Chuck versus the Stone of Life
by Quest
Summary: AU Fantasy Fic! When Chuck receives the gift of a Seer "the Intersect" from his father before he is murdered; Chuck is suddenly plunged into the world of heroes. This story will be packed w/ swords, creatures, far off lands, romance, & Charah eventually!
1. Chuck vs Morgan

**Title**: Chuck versus the Stone of Life

**Rating**: T – Some chapters will contain fantasy violence, language, and minor adult themes.

**Summary**: When Chuck receives the gift of a Seer (aka the Intersect) from his father before being murdered; Chuck is suddenly plunged into the world of heroes.

**Genre**: Fantasy/Romance

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything in the Chuck universe, unfortunately...

**Other Notes**: So this is a fantasy based story with lots of cool swords/weaponry, weird creatures, evil bad guys, quests, far off places, and of course our favorite characters! Be prepared for fantasy awesomeness! OH! Also all the Horses/pets in this fic are named after Greek/Norse gods and goddess because I have this weird obsession with Mythology :) One last thing I know horses (I have several lol)… I'm basing the horses in the story from actual horse breeds, so if you don't know what they are feel free to Google them to see what they look like ;D

**Now onto the story!**

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**Chapter 1**

"Again!" The man demanded as he made a slow circle around the two men in the center of the room. Wood clashed together as the young men quickly attacked each other with their long Bo staffs. The sticks flashed wildly, each dodging one another's attacks. Quickly seeing an opening the taller man swept his Bo at his opponent's legs knocking him hard onto his back.

"Very well done Charles." The man congratulated with a smile.

Chuck ran his hand through his thick curly hair with a smile. "Thank you Sir." His hand quickly shot down to help the other man to his feet. "Sorry about that Duncan."

"You got a lucky shot in Chuck…" Duncan muttered trying not glare at him. Chuck had only being at the school for only a few months; he on the other hand had been there for years. He spent countless days training in all sorts of weaponry. And Chuck, the man never once touched anything other than a Bo staff and seemed to win every time.

"Duncan you are dismissed." The older man walked into the center of the room. "We are done for the day."

Duncan bowed slightly at his teacher. "Yes, Sir." He shot Chuck one last look.

"Sorry…" Chuck apologized once again as Duncan slowly limped out of the room.

"You seem to be getting a better handle on your gift."

Chuck nodded in response. "The flashes are coming easier to me." He shifted his feet slightly before staring into the man's eyes. "Liam, I want to thank you for helping me." Liam had been one of his father's closest friends and allies; he was the only one he trusted to help him harness this new ability he possessed.

The older man gave him a warm smile. "Your father gave you a great gift Charles Bartowski." He reached out and gripped Chuck's shoulder giving it a reassuring squeeze. "You were meant to do great things; your father wouldn't have passed his gift to you if it wasn't true."

Chuck sighed with a nod. It had been a rough couple of months his brain now housed massive amounts of information. His father passed the gift of a Seer it to him before he died. This was the absolutely last thing he had wanted. Chuck was an Engineer and that's what he enjoyed doing. Not training in weapons, magic, and all things Seer related. When the flashes of information had suddenly started Chuck knew he could only turn to one man and one man only; Liam. He was a powerful Arch-Mage and the headmaster of the Alliance's Academy for Mages, and foremost this father's trusted advisor. If anyone could help him it was Liam.

"You're progressing quite well."

Chuck gave a small smile. "Well since this ability can't be taken away, I might as well semi-learn how to use and live with it." He tapped the side of his head lightly with the side of his Bo.

Liam gave Chuck's shoulder one last squeeze. "Why don't you take the rest of the week off? You've been training hard and making amazing progress, you deserve it."

"Yes Sir." He nodded with a smile. Chuck turned around and placed his Bo neatly back with the others on the rack before walking out of the weapons training room. He slowly walked the long marble hallways ignoring the looks and stares he got from some of the younger students as he made his way outdoors. A day off, he didn't really know what to do with himself. He was so used to training or in studying in the Academy library; actually having time to him self was rare.

Chuck squinted his eyes slightly as he walked through the large wooden doors to the school; the sun was still high and bright and it took a minute for his eyes to adjust. Chuck stood at the top of the steps taking in a deep breath of fresh air, with a smile. He quickly jogged down the marble stairs and walked through the Academy's large courtyard making his way to the large iron gates. The two guards slowly opened the gates as Chuck approached their chainmail and armor rattling loudly as they moved the large gates for him; he couldn't help but think how uncomfortable the two men must be. Not only being in the blazing hot sun, but also the movement restrictions. Chuck gave the two men a slight salute before walking out into the City.

He dodged two young boys that dashed around a nearby wagon almost tripping him as they played with their wooden swords, chasing each other around. It was nice to get out and just roam the busy streets. Burbank, it was the central hub for the Alliance; being the base for their large Army and Navy, home of several top Academy's, and was the major trading center for the country; Cali. The Alliance was made up of a governing Council of the most powerful men and women in the country. There were six of them totally; a Mage, a Warrior, an Assassin, a Druid, a Ranger, and even a Thief. The six were from different races and ages, all working side by side for one common goal, peace. Peace never came easy though it hardly ever does; there were always little wars with outside rulers trying to invade or take control of an outer region, but the Alliance's massive army tended to crush any opponent. There were some people who thought the Council members governed through fear; others thought they governed through harmony. Chuck never had really cared about the politics and never really paid much attention to anything with the Alliance, until now.

Liam believed he would become the Alliance's greatest asset once he learned to control his ability. He was determined to make sure Chuck knew the Council was watching him, waiting for him to be ready. It was a lot of pressure for one man to carry. And there were days Chuck wondered if he'd ever be ready.

"Chuck! Hey Chuck!" Chuck stopped in his tracks looking around through the crowds of people and horses trying to find the source of the voice.

A large smile spread across his face seeing he small bearded friend's head popping up through the sea of people. "Morgan." He smiled even more seeing his best friend suddenly show up in front of him. "Are you spying on the Academy again?" Chuck raised an eyebrow in question at his friend.

"Me? Never…" Morgan smirked innocently. "What are you doing out? Aren't you supposed to be at school doing cool wizard stuff? Like throwing fireball?"

"Morgan buddy I can't throw fireballs. I'm not a fire mage. I am not really any type of mage, you know that." Chuck rolled his eyes slightly. It was true mostly, he could do some small basics; like healing small cuts, lighting candles, freezing small objects, or lifting small objects, it was all just small simple things. Nothing compared to his sister's healing talents. Then his father, who he thought was just a brilliant Engineer designing weapons and tools for the Alliance had this hidden ability that he used to help the Council when they were in sticky situations. His entire family had great talents.

"But you have that new cool ability now!" Morgan wrapped on his head slightly.

"Shhh! Buddy you can't be saying that out loud in public." He muttered between his teeth, it wasn't supposed to be public knowledge. All things Seer related was kept under wraps in fear of enemy spies learning about Chuck's unique abilities.

Morgan rubbed the back of his neck, "right, right top-secret, gotcha. My lips are sealed. Promise." He glanced around at some of the people walking around them before hissing lowly, "but it's so cool!"

"Ya know buddy; I'm still trying to get a handle on it." Chuck mumbled before heading down the street once again, Morgan right at his side.

Morgan glanced at his friend, he seemed down stressed even. "I got one word for you buddy. Jeffster." He grinned and slapped Chuck on the back.

"No, no… I don't think so. I am not going there. Absolutely not." Jeffster, a local tavern in the wrong part of the city was the last place he wanted to go that night.

"Come on it'll be fun!"

"It's loud, smelly, and rowdy. And the two that own that place are… well more or less disturbing." Chuck informed his friend. "And the weird music, speaks for itself."

"I know it's perfect! It'll get your mind off of everything in there and you can just have some good old fun." Morgan elbowed him slightly. "Chuck, you need this."

Morgan was right, he did need some fun. "Fine." Chuck gave in; the little bearded man was often right when it came to all things fun.

"Yes!" Morgan rubbed his hands together. "Tonight is going to be epic."

Liam followed the two soldiers that escorted him down the long stone hallways of the large castle that nestled in the heart of the city. Minutes after Chuck left the Academy the Arch-Mage was summoned to an emergency Council meeting. His large hood of his dark blue robe was pulled up over his head covering most of his face so no one would recognize him. The large brass doors to the Council's chambers opened as he approached, his escorts stopped at the door as he walked through the doorway into the large room.

He stopped in the center of the horseshoe shaped room bowing his head in respect to the Council members before him. "Thank you for coming on such short notice Liam." A female voice finally spoke.

"It's always a pleasure." He smiled slightly pushing his hood off his head. Liam eyes quickly fell upon the source of the voice, a red headed elf sitting in large chair in front of him; Aynsley the elected Ranger for the Council. And on her right the Warrior Rohan and sitting next to him Morgan the Assassin. To Aynsley's left sat Deirdre a Mage and one of his closest friends and mentors, and on the end was Kellan the Druid.

Seeing them all their Liam knew this meeting must be extremely important. The Council would only hold weekly meetings were all members were required to attend and that had been two days prior. Often they would meet separately in smaller groups depending on what matters of stated needed to be discussed. "We called you here to discuss your newest student." Aynsley continued.

Liam's brow furrowed slightly in confusion. "Charles?"

"Yes, Charles Bartowski. Stephens son." Deirdre answered.

"What about him?"

"Is he ready?" Rohan's deep voice questioned.

"What?" Liam wasn't sure he heard the man right.

"Is. He. Ready?" Rohan repeated his fingers slowly drumming the arm of his chair impatiently he hated repeating himself.

Liam's eyes widened he suddenly understood they wanted Chuck for something. "No he's not ready! The boy only understands about half of his flashes and is just starting to perfect the combat abilities. I really haven't even scratched the surface on what he's capable of. It took his father almost a year too be the perfect Seer. And Stephen was a genius."

The Council glanced around at each other. "We need him to find the Stone of Life."

Liam stood frozen still; "the Stone? The Stone is a myth… a crazy legend told to children." In many stories the Stone was lost thousands of years ago, in some it was hidden away in a far off land after the Great War. Liam remembered hearing many different tales about the Stone of Life when he was a young boy. Some legends claimed the Stone placed in the hands of someone righteous and pure of heart could bring someone back to life, heal the deadliest of wounds, or in some stories it had the power to destroy all evil. But in the hands of one wicked and cruel at heart could bend death and people at their will; manipulating someone to do anything, killing anyone they pleased, and even creating an unstoppable undead army.

"Some of our Southern scouts report that some of Nendir's men are out looking for it near the Eponi Mountains." Aynsley explained.

Liam's fists curled up tightly, the name made his blood boil. "Nendir? Nendir cannot be trusted in anything he does… your information must be wrong." The man was a killer he had murdered his best friend; Stephen Bartowski.

Aynsley looked around at her peers. "We cannot take this lightly…even if it does turn up to be false."

"So you want to send Charles on a wild goose chase for something that may or may not exist?"

"He would not go alone; we'd send a team with him." Rohan quickly added. "He maybe our best lead on figuring out if the Stone is actually real."

Liam hung his head slightly, "Charles has not been tested in outside of the Academy yet… He's a very important asset you can not risk to loose him. What if he gets hurt? Or worse killed? How do we know another Seer will take his place?"

"We all know he's important Liam. The '_what if's_' are great." Deirdre gave a slight sigh. "This is just the type of quest we need a Seer to go on." She paused. "So Liam is he ready?"

"I don't think he really has much of a choice. He's going to have to be ready." Liam sighed slightly, he was worried Chuck's flashed could be unpredictable.

"I am willing to send some of my top Assassin's to help protect him." Morgan announced finally breaking her silence.

"And I will have one of my General's pick our best man to serve as his personal guard on his journey." Rohan offered.

"So it is settled then? Charles will be assigned this quest." Aynsley looked around at the other members getting nods of agreement from all. "Bring him to the General's Barracks tomorrow afternoon; Rohan will meet you both there with our plan."

Liam nodded there was no point in arguing they had made their decision. "As you wish." He turned on his heels and walked out of the Council chambers. One thing was certain Chuck was going to have to be the hero he's been training to be, sooner rather than later.

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**A/N: So you guys like it? Hate it? Can't get enough of it? Should I even continue it? I got lots of ideas and crazy adventures for this fic. Including next chapter involving Jeffster! **

**And for all of you who have read Chuck & Sarah versus The Legion; I ****DO**** plan on writing a sequel to that fic :D I'm just brain storming ideas for that one at the moment but it will be written. Promise!**

**As always reviews are most welcome!**


	2. Chuck vs Jeffster

**A/N: Wow thanks for the great response! I was a little unsure how people would like the AU or if I really enjoy writing it. And let's just say writing this is Awesome! I absolutely love Fantasy and I have a LOT of ideas brewing for this fic. So thank you for starting this journey of mine hope you enjoy it!**

**I do not own Chuck…sadly…**

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**Chapter 2: Chuck vs. Jeffster**

"Come on Chuck, let's go."

Chuck hesitated as they rounded the corner nearing the tavern. "I don't know about this man…" There were several very good reasons why it was just an overall bad idea to go there all of them screaming at him to just turn around and go home.

Morgan shook his head, "buddy you need this! Drinks, women, music." He smirked brightly.

"Ya… all of them I really don't need." Chuck muttered at him.

They neared the tavern the music was getting louder along with the shouting and awful singing. "You will be changing that tune after a few spiced ales my friend."

Chuck rolled his eyes, "two drinks then we're leaving." He really disliked going to the tavern, something always bad happened.

"Sure fine, two drinks." Morgan's lips curled into a huge grin as they approached the door. The door suddenly burst open and a man stumbled into the street throwing up right in front of them.

Chuck paused and looked at Morgan with a skeptical frown. "Ya…maybe just one drink…"

"This is going to be great come on," Morgan slapped his friend on the back before walking into the loud tavern.

Following right behind his friend Chuck glanced around the large room of the tavern. Chuck sidestepped a few rowdy men who were obviously way past drunk as he and Morgan made their way to the bar. "Two spiced ales." Morgan ordered. Two large mugs of alcohol quickly showed up and Morgan grabbed both. "You got this buddy?"

Chuck just smirked and pulled a few coins from his pocket and paid for the drinks before following Morgan to an empty table. He picked up his drink and took a long needed sip. Chuck watched Morgan just about down half of his drink in one gulp. "Slow down there buddy… We have all night." Chuck smirked at his friend.

Morgan nodded. "I'm going to talk to her." He blurted out quickly.

"Who?" Chuck questioned looked around, there were a lot of women that worked at Jeffster and it seemed every other week Morgan had a new lady crush.

Finishing his ale Morgan nodded to his left. Chuck's eyes slowly scanned the area to which Morgan referred to. He finally spotted the young thin red-head in which Morgan openly stared at. "Bree? Buddy… you try talking to her every time we come here."

"I know but this time I'm actually going to do it." Morgan took a deep breath, still watching her. The young woman turned and headed over to their table. "She's coming…" His voice hissed and tried to look casual.

"Hey Morgan." Bree smiled brightly at him. "Chuck." She glanced between the two men. "Can I get you guys something else? A refill? Some food?"

Morgan opened his mouth, trying to force his eyes from scanning her tight corset and skirt. Nothing came out. Chuck finally spoke up to save his friend from the awkward silence, "a refill would be great and maybe some beef strips."

Bree smiled at him before looking back at Morgan who quickly averted his eyes away from her. "Sure thing, be right back."

Chuck waited for her to walk away before smirking at his best friend, "real smooth buddy." He couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"What? She caught me off guard." Morgan defended him self quickly.

"Right," Chuck smirked and continued to sip his drink.

"Morgan! Chuck!" Chuck's eyes widened hearing the man's sudden voice. Lester and Jeff quickly slid into the chairs next to them.

"Lester. Jeff." Chuck nodded to both taking another drink.

"You got quite the crowd tonight?" Morgan tried to make small talk.

"It's not bad."

"Not bad at all." Jeff agreed.

"So what are you guys doing over here?" Chuck glanced between the two men. "Shouldn't you be I don't know doing something else?" He hated to sound rude but the two men rubbed him the wrong way.

Lester rocked back in his chair more, "we brought you a new little concoction we've been experimenting with. Jeffery." Jeff handed the two men each a little glass of yellow liquid that he had brought over with them.

Chuck stared at the small glass in front of him. It didn't look all the appetizing. "It'll blow your mind." Jeff stated in a hushed tone a sly smirk spread across his lips.

Morgan stared at Chuck before picking his glass up. "Bottom's up." He smirked as Chuck slowly picked his own glass up.

Taking a deep breath Chuck downed the drink. It burned the whole way down and he couldn't help but start coughing at the sudden bad taste and burning sensation that the drink caused. Morgan quickly joined in coughing slightly.

"Good right?" Lester smiled proudly.

"What the hell is that stuff?" Chuck slowly stopped coughing and started at the glass.

Jeff leaned in closer to the group. "Our little secret…"

Chuck took a sip of his ale trying to get rid of the horrible aftertaste of Jeff and Lester's new drink. Morgan kept smacking his lips with a sour look on his face. "How about another?" Lester offered.

"No." Morgan and Chuck answered in unison. "I think we're good." Chuck added which got a quick nod from Morgan. "But thanks."

"Fine your losses." Lester got to his feet.

"Ya. Your losses." Jeff repeated before getting up and walking away.

After watching the two walk off Chuck returned his attention to his best friend with both his eyebrows raised. "What the hell was that stuff made of?"

"I don't know…But it tasted like feet." Morgan smacked his lips again, shivering slightly from the lingering bad aftertaste.

"Feet? How do you know what feet taste like?"

Morgan shrugged, "I don't know, but if I did ever taste feet it would be like that drink right there." He pointed at his empty glass.

Chuck smirked slightly shaking his head; he finished his drink just in time for Bree to return with refills of their spiced ale and a plate of beef. "There you go boys. Enjoy."

Morgan looked up at the young woman and opened his mouth, nothing came out once again. "Thanks Bree." Chuck thanked her for Morgan.

She stared at Morgan for a brief second before smiling at Chuck. "Welcome. Just let me know if you guys need anything else."

"She so wants me."

"Yup you keep thinking that buddy." Chuck smirked and grabbed a piece of beef with his fingers.

The two sat at the table making small talk as they finished their ale and ate their meal. "Ok two ales, let's go." Chuck finished off the last of his drink.

"But..."

"No buts you agreed to two drinks." He was already starting to feel the effects of the alcohol and the odd drink Lester and Jeff gave them. Chuck slowly got to his feet. "I gotta get some sleep…"

"Fine…" Morgan got up from his chair and paused for a second his head spinning slightly.

"You good?"

"Good."

The two started weaving their way around the tables heading for the door. "I said no. Let me go!" They stopped hearing Bree's voice over the music. "No. Leave me alone!" Bree was trying to push herself away from the four touchy feely large men.

"Hey let her go!" Morgan quickly spoke up and turned towards the men. Chuck was right on Morgan's heels, this was not going to end well.

The four men stopped what they were doing letting Bree go and glared at Morgan. "What did you say little man?" One growled slowly getting up from his chair.

Morgan's eyes slowly widened sizing the man up. "Wow… you're one large burly guy…" He muttered softly.

"Umm…" Chuck quickly slipped in front of Morgan holding his hands ups in a non-threatening way. "What my friend here means to say. Is that they young lady wishes to be left alone. I'm sure there are plenty of other women in here that would ummm like the whole man handling thing. Am I right?" Morgan nodded.

The three other men slowly got to their feet and Chuck's eyes widened slightly. They were massive… their arm muscles were just about the size of his head. "Umm we're not looking for any fight. Right Morgan?"

"Right."

"Ya there is no need for any violence. We can just go on our way and you scary gentlemen can go back to drinking and eating." Chuck stammered quickly taking a step back bumping into Morgan. The men obviously did not like getting told what to do.

"Use your fighting skills dude." Morgan hissed at his friend.

"I'd rather not…" Chuck replied through his teeth watching some of the men crack their knuckles. He gulped slightly sizing the four men up. They were quite large.

"You should mind your own business boy." One of the men growled under his breath as he rounded the table.

"Right, brilliant idea and why don't just run along then." Chuck slowly started pushing Morgan back towards the front door.

Chuck turned to walk away pushing Morgan ahead of him. A hand clasped his shoulder tightly. The minute he felt the man's hand on his shoulder he went into action. His eyes fluttered slightly as the information started flowing into his head; a series of kicks, punches, and blocks quickly flashed into his head. Chuck reached around gripping the man's wrist and used the sudden force to knock the man back into the others with a hard elbow in the chest.

Within seconds there was a full on brawl in the tavern. Chuck's instincts quickly took over dodging punches and punching random men who jumped at him. It was just one large sea of angry drunk men, Chuck lost track of who was who. The four men who he had originally started fighting somehow got sucked into the crowd. Chuck staggered back when someone's random punch connected to his jaw. Chairs were beginning to be thrown and bottles smashing against people's heads, it was starting to become full on chaos.

Chuck paused for a second to look for Morgan; he spotted him ducking near a table out of the way of the fight. It was really the safest place for him. The doors to the tavern swung open violently and several guards rushed in to break up the escalating fight. Within minutes the fight was contained, "who started this?" One of the guards demanded looking around, everyone remained silent. "Ok then. Let's take them all to the dungeon to sober up for the night." Immediately fingers shot up pointing at Chuck who stood near the front door.

His hands went up slightly as the guards moved in on his direction. "Look… this was one gaint misunderstanding." Chuck defended as Morgan quickly scrambled out from underneath the table.

"It really wasn't his fault." Morgan quickly stepped up next to his best friend; he wasn't going to let Chuck go down for something he really started.

The main guard narrowed his eyes and looked at the two men, "take them both."

The steel barred cell door slammed shut and Chuck stood arms crossed in his cozy eight by eight cell that he now shared with Morgan. "Tonight will be epic!" Chuck couldn't help but mock Morgan's words that ran through his head. "It'll be fun!" He couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the little bearded man.

Morgan ignored him and just smiled. "Dude you were awesome in there!" He tried to mimic some of Chuck's kicks. "That new ability of yours rules! You took down three guys in a matter of seconds!"

Chuck just sighed and sat down on the cold stone floor and leaned up against the back wall. "Ya and look where it got us." He touched his half swollen eye and split lip and winced. This was one of the reasons he hated violence, someone always got hurt… and more often than none it was him.

"But think of the story we now have!" Morgan smirked excitedly. "Chuck Bartowski taking on fifteen men like some super warrior and me your trusty sidekick." He once again through some fake punches at an invisible enemy.

"Who just hid under the table." Chuck rose ran eyebrow at him with a smile.

Morgan looked down at his feet and rubbed the back of his neck. He slowly sunk down next to Chuck. "I'm sorry buddy… for getting us into that fight."

Chuck reached over and put a reassuring hand on Morgan's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I was about to do the same thing." He sighed; it was true he wouldn't have just stood there watching those men treat a woman like that. "You know… maybe next time we should just run before the fighting starts."

"Running, running is good." Morgan nodded in agreement. Hopefully there wouldn't be a next time.

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**A/N: I know not a whole lot of stuff in this one, just a fun Chuck/Morgan chapter. But it actually does set some stuff up in chapters further down the road. I hope to make quick updates with this story, but work is getting crazy so I will desperately to try to update a few days a week. Like tomorrow I hope to get chapter 3 up :D**

**Up Next: Chuck finds out about his quest and meets his traveling companion/bodyguard**

**Reviews are most welcome! I love hearing from you guys whether it's what you are like or not liking it helps me build the story. Or if you guys want to see any cool creatures show up, or situations you think would be interesting, or even characters you'd like to see. Let me know I may just incorporate them into the story!**


	3. Chuck vs Being a Hero

**A/N: Thank you guys sooooo much for all the reviews, favorites, and alerts! Glad you're all enjoying the story. It's now time for Chuck to step up and become a hero! Enjoy :)**

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**Chapter 3: Chuck vs. Being a Hero**

"Charles Irving Bartowski!" Liam's voice stern voice suddenly woke Chuck from his sleep. "What were you thinking?" He questioned seeing Chuck's eyes slowly open.

Chuck let out a loud groan and rubbed his face, which he immediately regretted the decision wincing when his hand ran over his swollen eye. He looked around slowly around he was still in the dungeon. "Pretty sure thinking wasn't much involved last night…" Chuck slowly got to his feet and noticed Morgan curled up in a ball on the floor next to him.

"Obviously. The two of you get into more trouble than anyone I know…" Liam sighed, "I had to pull some strings to get you two out of here. They had wanted to keep you in here for a few days to learn your lesson. I was tempted to just leave you here." Liam crossed his arms stepped aside to let the guard unlock the door.

Chuck quickly kicked Morgan gently to wake him up. Morgan shot up straight rubbing his eyes. "What? Where are…" He trailed off seeing he was still in the dark damp dungeon. "Oh… we're still here…" Slowly getting to his feet Morgan stretched and groaned slightly, the stone floor had not been the most comfortable to sleep on.

The guard unlocked the dungeon door and stood aside while the men walked out. Morgan gave the man a fake salute. "It's been a pleasure."

"You." Liam pointed at Morgan giving him a glare. "Go home. And you come with me." He motioned for Chuck to follow him before walking off down the hallway.

Chuck looked at Morgan, "I'll come by later buddy. Do /not/ get into any trouble."

"No trouble here. Promise." Morgan nodded quickly.

"Charles now!" Liam yelled after him.

"Good luck." Morgan grimaced at him before Chuck quickly jogged down the hall to follow Liam.

Chuck walked in silence next to his mentor for several feet before speaking up. "I'm sorry about the tavern, the flash just happened and the next thing I knew all hell broke loose. It'll never happen again, I swear."

"I know it won't Charles. I'm not mad because of that…" Liam huffed, it was actually good to know that he was able to flash quickly in the dangerous situation but he still didn't think Chuck was quite ready for this heavy burden. "It's about something else."

His eyes slowly looked over at Liam. "What else?"

"You will know in a few minutes, Charles." Liam led Chuck out of the prison and started down the street towards the Generals barracks. Chuck just followed Liam keeping his head down and mouth shut.

Walking through the large gates of to the Army barracks Chuck couldn't help but wonder why they were there. The questions quickly flooded in; was he going to train there? Did Liam not want him around the Mage Academy anymore and was assigning him here? Chuck watched the soldiers around him. Some were sparring with weapons, others jogged by in their light chain mail obviously doing laps around the compound, and there were a few off to the side stringing bows and working on sharpening swords.

Liam suddenly stopped before walking into the building and turned to him, snapping Chuck's attention back to him. "Charles…" He said softly. "Whatever happens in here I want to you know that your father would be very proud of you." Chuck's eyebrows rose slightly, this didn't sound like the beginning of a positive conversation. "I'm very proud of you Chuck." Liam gave him a small reassuring smile. Chuck… Liam never called him Chuck, something was wrong and Chuck's palms quickly started sweating his nerves suddenly getting to him.

Before Chuck could question Liam's sudden and nerve-racking statements the man walked through the doors and walked into the large building. Liam quickly led Chuck down one of the hallways and into a large battle room. Rohan stood in the middle of the room next to the large circle table that was completely covered in a large map of the Cali and some of the surrounding areas. Chuck was in awe of the massive room. His eyes shot up to the large banners that were streaming down from the high ceilings. He recognized them all. Each of the Alliance branches had one represented from Mages to the Thieves and everything in between. The war room was beyond impressive. A short woman stood next to Rohan, her hands linked behind her back standing up straight and tall Chuck could tell she was someone of power just by the way she held herself.

Chuck stopped next to Liam across the table from Rohan and his guest. It was all a little intimating, Chuck knew the man was part of the Council and he was here standing before him. "Have you told him anything?" Rohan questioned Liam.

"No I haven't."

"Tell me what?"

"We are sending you on a very important quest Mr. Bartowski." Rohan finally looked him right in the eye.

Chuck just stared at him. "You're what?" He asked his voice high pitched.

"To find the Stone of Life." Rohan answered.

He suddenly started laughing this just had to be a joke. "Good one guys." His laughing slowly died to nothing seeing the three serious faces staring at him. "Wait… you're not joking?"

"No we are not." The woman replied with a completely serious face.

"The Stone isn't real."

"It's possible that it isn't, but if it is we do not want it falling into the wrong hands." Rohan placed his hands on the edge of the table leaning in slightly. "So we need your special talents to help us find it."

"Me? All by my self?" Chuck's eyes were still wide; this was the last thing that had been running through his eyes.

Rohan shook his head. "Of course not. You are too valuable to go alone. I had General Beckman pick one of her top men to escort and help you on your journey." He nodded to the woman next to him.

Beckman smirked slightly. "And I have just the man for the job. Colonel Casey is one of my top men; specializing in high end weaponry and military tactics. If anyone can keep you safe it's him."

Chuck did feel slightly better hearing Beckman's description of the man who would be accompanying him. He slowly looked around at the faces staring at him; they were requiring him to be a hero. "I…I don't even know where to even start." Chuck finally said.

"Your search will start near the Eponi Mountains." Rohan explained pointing to the Mountains to the south of the city.

His eyes glanced down at the map. "But that's a good week's ride from here! How long are you planning on having me search for this Stone?"

"As long as it takes Charles." General Beckman explained.

"It could not even be real what if I'm on this quest forever." Chuck glanced at Liam who gave him a slight frown.

"We know you'll find something." Liam gave him a small yet sad smile. "If anyone can get to the bottom of this it's you."

Chuck nodded solemnly. The Council needed his help and saying no to them was unheard of and he was not going to be the first to do so. He would have to step up to the plate and take on this quest, like a real hero. "I have one request."

Rohan raised an eyebrow before crossing his arms. "And what would that be?"

"I want my friend Morgan to join me."

"Absolutely not." Rohan shook his head quickly; they didn't need the liability of a civilian on this quest. "He is a civilian. I will not allow it."

Chuck crossed his arms taking a slight breath to get the courage to argue with the Council member. "I will do anything you guy want me to do. I trust him, Morgan comes along." He narrowed his eyes; he needed Morgan on this he needed a friend someone he could trust and rely on.

Rohan glared right back at Chuck holding his gaze for several moments. "Fine."

"We can't allow this!" General Beckman protested quickly.

"He goes." Rohan answered sternly and the subject was quickly dropped.

Chuck couldn't help but smile. He felt better knowing his friend would be joining him. They had always talked about going on an adventure and this was their change. Chuck sighed, "When do we leave?"

"This afternoon." General Beckman answered.

"What? I'm not going to be ready by then." Chuck's attention quickly went to his mentor who still stood next to him. "Couldn't we push it back a few weeks… or months so I can do some more training?"

"You're ready Charles." Liam told him in confidence. "You can do this."

Chuck stared a Liam then huffed, "ok…" he said softly and looking down at the map. It was going to be a long trip.

"You will stop in the city of Halldor before continuing to the Eponi Mountains. There you will meet up with the rest of your team." General Beckman explained pointing to the small village on the map. It was a two day ride.

"The rest of my team?"

"Like I said this is a very important quest you will need all the help you can get." Rohan explained to Chuck. "They will meet you at the local Inn."

"And how will I know who they are?"

"Colonel Casey knows them. Don't worry you will be completely safe." General Beckman explained the last thing she wanted Chuck to know was that his new team members were going to be Assassins.

"You will meet at the Army's stables after lunch. Colonel Casey will be waiting for you there. Good luck." Rohan gave Chuck a slight smile before making his way towards one of the side doors Beckman right on his heels.

Chuck turned to Liam once they were gone. "I'm not ready for this…" His face filled with worry and utter terror.

Liam gripped his shoulders shaking him slightly, "you're ready." He look up at Chuck's face and frowned slightly noticing the nice bruises and cuts littering his face. "Come. Let's go get your face healed and then I'll help you prepare."

Chuck couldn't help but give Liam a smile. "Alright." He agreed before walking out of the room.

Morgan would not stop chattering as he followed Chuck and Liam to the stables. "This is going to be great! Morgan and Chuck. Chuck and Morgan. Two lone wolves saving the world." Morgan just about danced around excitedly. This was his dream come true.

Chuck smirked brightly, "we're not going to be alone buddy." He wished he could get as excited as Morgan on their pending adventure, but it was hard to do so when everything was riding on your shoulders. And your shoulders alone. Chuck shifted his pack and two short Bo staffs around slightly as they walked. Liam insisted that he take a weapon with him for protection and since the only thing Chuck was good at was the staff it seemed like the logical choice.

The trio walked around the large General's barracks to the massive stables nestled behind it. General Beckman stood in the large doorway entering the stables, her hands linked behind her back. "Good you're finally here, this way." She led them through away from the stable and towards the back gate. "Colonel Casey." Beckman announced as she spotted the man near the set of horses tied to fence.

Casey quickly turned around, "General." He gave her a salute.

"At ease Colonel." Casey quickly lowered his hand.

Chuck felt a little more at ease seeing the large man in front of him. He definitely screamed authority and toughness. "Everything is ready General just waiting for the asset to arrive."

General Beckman motioned towards Chuck. "He's right here. And his friend." She glanced at Morgan he looked like a giddy little school girl.

Casey looked over at Chuck who gave him a small wave. "You're kidding?" The scrawny man did not look like any hero he had ever encountered.

"No I'm not Colonel. This is Charles Bartowski." Beckman explained.

"You can call me Chuck."

"And I'm Morgan Grimes." Morgan quickly added giving a slightly wave.

Casey's thumbs hooked into the front of his pants and sized the two men up, grunting lowly. It was official he was a certified babysitter. "We should head out. We're burning daylight. We will send reports as we make progress ma'am."

"Yes you should be on your way. I look forward to your reports Colonel." General Beckman looked at Chuck. "Good luck." She turned on her heels and walked away.

Liam stepped up in front of Chuck. He placed both his hands on Chuck's shoulder and stared him in the eye. "You can do this Charles. Just remember your training. And do not let your emotions control your abilities."

"I won't I promise." Chuck nodded quickly at the older man.

"Stay safe my boy." Liam gave him a quick kiss on each of his cheeks. He stepped side and let Chuck pass him.

Casey put a finger out poking it into Chuck's chest stopping him dead in his tracks. "Lets get one thing clear Bartowski. You may have that special power of yours but I'm in charge of his quest, so if I say run you run if I say stay you stay. Are we clear?"

Chuck gulped and looked down at the man's finger in his chest. "Crystal." He nodded quickly eyes wide.

"Good." Casey removed his finger and grumbled slightly. He looked at Morgan who just stood there clutching his pack smirking brightly, Casey snarled slightly. "Let's get moving." He grabbed Chuck's shoulder and pulled him over to one of the horses. "She's yours for the trip."

Chuck's eyes widened slightly as Casey dragged him over to the large black Spanish-Norman. He gulped it had been a while since he had ridden a horse that big and muscled. She was gorgeous none the less; pitch black with an almost perfect white stripe down her face, and a thick wavy mane and tail. "Umm don't you have anything you know smaller? Like that one." He pointed to the smaller Welsh Cob tied next to his horse.

"That's your friends. Athena here is a fine warhorse and has seen several battles she will suit you just fine." Casey smirked.

Morgan frowned slightly hearing the news. "Why don't I get a warhorse?" He walked up to the smaller of the horses, the bay Welsh Cob was still a good size but didn't have the presence like Chuck's mount or Casey's large black menacing Friesian.

"Because you're just the company not the asset." Casey replied securing his large broad sword to the side of his saddle.

Morgan walked up to the horse, the horse pinned his ears and stomped his feet. "Easy there fella…" The horse continued to pin his ears at him snorting slightly. Morgan gulped slightly. "Umm Colonel I don't think this horse likes me."

Casey couldn't help but smirk. "Modi can smell fear. Are you afraid Grimes?"

Morgan stared at the horse and just nodded. "Maybe a little."

"You're fine." Casey muttered and unhitched the liver chestnut Welsh Cob that was on the other side of the fence and led him around towards Morgan, the horse was had several packs hitched over his back with supplies. "Mount up." He watched Morgan carefully get up into the saddle. "Here." Casey shoved the long lead rope into Morgan's hands.

"What's this?"

"You're in charge of the pack horse." Casey announced. "Careful, their brothers and Magni here likes to lead so keep him close to you or he'll drag you out of the saddle."

"Right. Keep him close." Morgan nodded and tightened the rope slightly.

Casey turned and noticed Chuck was still trying to attach the Bo's to the saddle, he shook his head and walked over to him. "Here." Casey took the short staffs from Chuck and began to rig them up to his saddle. "There."

"Thanks." Chuck smiled at him petting Artemis's thick muscled neck gently. He slowly untied her before pulling himself up into the saddle.

Casey quickly mounted his large black Friesian who quickly began to stir the minute Casey settled into the saddle. He knew they were preparing for something big and the horse itched to get moving. "Easy Ares…" Casey kept his voice low and gave a quick scratch to Ares withers quickly setting the anxious warhorse.

He let Ares settle a minute and watched his two new charges get accustomed to their new horses and saddles. They really didn't have time to stand around getting to know their horses traveling would do that for them. "Ok let's go." Casey announced squeezing his legs gently against his horse's side, Ares immediately sprung into a lively trot quickly taking the lead of the group. "We have a long trip ahead of us, let's not waste anymore time." Casey yelled over his shoulder to the two men before heading towards the southern gate.

"Ahh… Colonel…Casey…." Casey turned looking over his shoulder and noticed Modi backing up on Morgan instead of moving forward with the other horses. He grunted hanging his head, Casey stopped Ares quickly to go back and help the little bearded man. This was going to be a very long and annoying assignment.

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**A/N: Here we go! The journey now begins :D I wasn't sure about bringing Morgan along but thought it would be fun; I love Morgan and Casey's interaction on the show so I thought it would be interesting to bring that into the story.**

**Next up: We meet the bad guy and start learning his evil plans ;) And of what you all have probably been waiting for the introduction of Sarah Walker and her partners. Yes I said **_**partners**_**. Who are they? Are they characters from the show? Or ones I've made up characters? You'll just have to tune in to find out!**

**As always reviews are most welcome!**


	4. Sarah vs the Assignment

**A/N: So sorry for the delay in this chapter! I was hoping to get it off a few days ago, but it wasn't coming out the way I wanted it too. So I took the extra days to tweak it. I have NOT given up on this story so don't think I have if I don't post for a few days. I just really wanted to get the story and background of everyone right.**

**Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts :D Hope this Sarah chapter holds you over until I finish the next chapter! Enjoy!**

**P.S I don't own Chuck… sadly…**

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**Chapter 4: Sarah vs. the Assignment**

Sarah flopped down on her bed with a slight groan; sleep definitely was going to be her friend. It had been a long couple of weeks and she hadn't slept in her own bed for, well she lost track a while ago. Sarah hadn't even taken the time to change into something more comfortable; she had just dropped her pack on the floor at the foot of her bed and laid down still wearing her leather Assassin's outfit. She let out a slight pleased groan snuggling down more. Sarah heard a slight whine next to her and cracked an eye open slightly to take a peak at the suspect. The large black Hellhound, Thor, sat next to her bed staring at her intensely. He whined softly again, placing his head on the bed.

"What?" She mumbled slightly. His tail immediately began thumping against the floor loudly. Sarah kept her eye on the massive animal before letting out a huff. "Fine…" She slid over on the bed and the hound quickly jumped up onto the bed plopping down next to her. He took over half the bed and Sarah just about hung off her side of the bed. "You're lucky you're cute." Sarah muttered snuggling against the Thor's warm body.

The hound was really the closest thing she had to family, her father was off somewhere and her mother they weren't really on speaking terms at the moment. Every Assassin was matched with an animal companion near the end of their training. Recruits were tested vigorously to decide what animal they'd be matched with, the animals varied from different breeds of cats, dogs, birds, and even the occasional ferret. With Sarah's bold and defiant personality paired her with the aggressive yet loyal Hellhound. Sarah hadn't been much of a pet person per say, the only animal she had ever owned and taken care off was her horse. So the constant company of the hound had been an odd thing too get used to but the two had clicked immediately.

Thor had been just a puppy when they first met now being four he was fully grown about twice the size of any wolf. Sarah had been glad that some of the myths of Hellhounds were untrue. He didn't talk, have a foul-odor, nor could he kill someone by just staring at them, his eyes weren't glowing red they were actually brown with a slight reddish tint, and he didn't have anything to do with the underworld or hunting lost souls. There were some truths too though Thor was larger than any normal dog or wolf; he had super strength and speed, and he would probably live for a good twenty years. She had heard of a Hellhound living for thirty but that had just been another rumor though it wasn't completely farfetched for the breed, they were abnormal.

Sarah had taken pride in training him to his full potential; not only was Thor the perfect killing machine but the hound was an amazing tracker. His skills came in handy more often than she liked to admit. Not only that, he was an overall good dog; despite the constant reminder about the bad reputation of Hellhounds being overly aggressive Sarah never once worried that he'd turn on her there was no doubt in her mind that he'd ever do anything to harm her. Thor had already saved her life countless times. She trusted him completely.

Sarah snuggled closer to Thor her breathing became shallow and began to drift off to sleep. A sudden knock quickly woke her up. Thor quickly jumped off the bed and took a defensive stance by the door. She didn't move from her comfy location. "Walker. Hey you up." The woman's voice rang out as she continued to knock on the door. Sarah huffed and slowly rolled out of bed. She couldn't help but shuffle her boots across the floor making her way towards the door.

"Sarah!" The knocking continued.

"I'm coming!" Sarah growled and swung the door open. She glared at the leggy red head standing before her. "What is it Carina?"

"Director Graham wants to see us."

"Now? We just got back?" Sarah rubbed her face slightly.

Carina smirked slightly. "Did you really think we'd be able to get some rest?"

The woman was right it was rare to get any rest in their line of work. "Ya I know..." She walked out the door Thor right on her heels. Carina started down the hallway.

Assassin's were always paired in teams it was one of the requirements. Carina was Sarah's second partner. They had known each other from the Covert Infiltration Academy, CIA for short, but Sarah never thought they'd be paired as partners. She was still getting used to Carina's improvised techniques and unneeded risk taking that had gotten the duo into some sticky situations. It had been ten months since her last partner died, Bryce Larkin, it had been a hard couple of months to adjust the two had grown close over the two year period they were together; more than they should have. A part of her almost wondered if she had truly loved him, but she couldn't think about that now he was gone. Dwelling in the past only got you hurt, it was one of the reasons she became so cold and closed off, she couldn't let her emotions get to her.

"Do you know what he wants?" Sarah glanced over at her partner.

Carina shook her head. "Not a clue. Just that it was urgent and to report to him immediately."

Sarah muttered lowly and walked down the hall to Graham's office. They reached the door and Carina knocked. "Enter!" The man's voice rang out from the other side.

Sarah looked at Thor, "wait." She commanded, the large hound plopped his butt down to the floor and watched as the two women walked into the room. Over the years Sarah had trained Thor in verbal, sound, and hand commands; the benefits of all three were great on assignments.

Walking into the room, both women stopped in front of the desk and waited for the Director to look up in their direction. "I have another mission for you." He finally glanced at them.

Sarah's eyebrow rose slightly, that was quick. They had just arrived back to base earlier that morning and now there was another mission. Sarah loved missions and would rather be out on one than just waiting around; but one day in between would have been perfect. "So soon?" It had to be important if it was.

"It comes straight from the Council." Graham announced. That got both of the girl's attention quickly. "You are to go to Halldor and meet up with a team there."

"A team? We're not going alone?" Carina questioned a little upset that they were going to be paired with another team.

"You are to protect the Seer on his quest to find the Stone of Life."

Sarah's eyes furrowed, "wait…the Seer? The Seer is dead." She remembered hearing the news of his death.

Carina chuckled with a smirk, "and the Stone is a myth."

"Ya well the Council believes it's real." Graham began to explain. "Apparently there is another Seer. His son." Sarah and Carina glanced at each other quickly. His son has the ability that was impossible there had been no mention of Stephen's son being a Seer to. "The Council wants me to send my top team to accompany him. That would be you two. Not that I enjoy sending my two top agents on some protection detail, but the Council ordered it."

Sarah sighed it wasn't the ideal assignment but it would be an interesting pace than they were used to. "So how will we know who he is?"

"Colonel Casey is with him."

Sarah rolled her eyes slightly and Carina let out an amused chuckle, the duo had a run in with Casey a few months back. It hadn't been the most pleasant of encounters; Carina had surely enjoyed herself Sarah on the other hand no so much. "You leave in an hour and can make it to Halldor in a day. Colonel Casey will meet you at the Inn there. You're dismissed."

The girls gave Graham a slight nod before walking out of the room. "Protection detail." Carina muttered once the door closed behind them. "What a waste of time."

Sarah gave Thor a pat on the head before walking down the hallway. "We've done it before."

"I know that was for foreign diplomats not for a pointless quest, protecting the man who is supposed to find the Stone. A Stone which no one has ever seen and probably doesn't even exist." Carina tried not grumble.

Walking down the hallway back to her room, Sarah paused in front of her door. "Look lets stay focused and just do the job."

"You're right." Carina gave a slight nod. "I'll see you in an hour at the docks."

"I'll be there." Sarah swung the door open and walked into her room shutting the door behind her. She let out a deep huff and couldn't help but smirk slightly when Thor jumped up onto her bed flopping down to sleep. "Don't get too comfy we're leaving soon."

An hour later Sarah walked to the dock leading her dark dappled gray Andalusian, Loki, to the ship. She couldn't help but apologize profusely to the stallion, while getting him ready, about going back out on another assignment so soon. The horse could handle it and Sarah knew that it was one of the reason's she had chosen Loki as her mount after graduating the Academy, but she still felt sorry for him.

Carina stood at the top of the ramp waiting. "Let's go."

Sarah smirked slightly at her partner before leading Loki down to the lower level of the boat. She tied him off next to Carina's white Andalusian mare, Freya, before heading back to the upper deck. Carina already had the Captain getting his crew moving and casting off the ship before Sarah even made it over to her.

The trip to shore would only take a couple of hours and from there it was almost a day's ride to Halldor. The Assassin base was located on the Isles of Aldair; it was the perfect isolated location. Anyone wanting to just drop in for a visit would have a hard time landing ashore without being noticed. The Islands high cliffs along the shoreline left only a few optimal points of entry which were guarded by large watch towers. The Isles were not only the home of the CIA but also several Elven clans. The Elves strongly believed in privacy and it took much convincing to even allow the Council to build the Assassin base on one of their Islands.

Sarah's mother was an Elf; making her a half-breed. She didn't like to boast about it; there still was tension between Human's and Elves, both thinking that they were the superior race. It had caused friction and wars between the two for many centuries, but over time things began too cool and peace-agreement was finally agreed upon. Elves were now living off the Isles; a few clans up and moved to villages and cities throughout the lands; some were now even teaching at the different Academy's or serving in the Army. Being a half-breed was still something many did not like to talk about and was a down-right abomination fifty years ago; even now announcing you were a half-breed could get you hurt.

Sarah was fortunate she didn't get the full Elven look, she had gotten her mother's blonde hair and blue eyes, but luckily many humans often had the same hair and eye color. Her ears weren't tipped to the extreme that they screamed Elf; there was a slight point at the tip but at a quick glance no one really noticed. She looked human and it worked well to her advantage as an Agent.

From a young age Sarah had been groomed to be the perfect Assassin. Her mother was a well respected Ranger and taught Sarah tracking, hunting, and wilderness survival. Sarah's father on the other hand was a con-man and thief not the most respected one either. He used her as a tool when she was younger teaching her to become anyone she wanted, pick pockets, to pick locks, and most importantly use stealth to her advantage. She had a few interesting run-ins with Graham when she was around nineteen, the encounters left her with an offer to become an Assassin. Sarah couldn't pass it up the life style fascinated her.

Within a few hours the boat docked at the fishing village of Sandpoint and the girls unloaded their horses before heading into the village. "I'm going to gather some last minute supplies. Meet you at the edge of town?" Carina glanced at her partner.

Sarah just nodded before walking off leading Loki through the streets; Thor quickly stepped in suit walking next to Sarah. They reached the edge of the village and waited. Sarah checked her packs then carefully strapped the two large scabbards that she had draped over her saddle to her back, securing the dual elven fighting knives in their rightful place before swinging up onto Loki, waiting for Carina to join her. The elegant knives were a gift from her mother they had once been her grandfathers, her mother gave them too her the day she told her she accepted an offer to join the Assassins. It was the last day Sarah saw her mother; the two were not on the greatest speaking terms and the last thing her mother ever wanted was for her only child to become a killer and that's just what Sarah had become.

A certified killer.

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**A/N: Alrighty! So now you've met Sarah and her partner(s). A few of you wondered about Bryce, in this fic he's not the one who gave Chuck his "Intersect" ability, his dad does. And yes Chuck does know Bryce and that will be discussed later in the fic :D I do have plans for Chuck & gang to run into some other characters from the show. Who you might ask? Well you'll just have to stay tuned to find out.**

**Up next: Bad & one kick ass fight! ;) Hoping to get it up this weekend!**

**As always reviews are most welcome! :D I love hearing from you guys!**


	5. Chuck vs the Assassins

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in this chapter but my work schedule has gotten a little crazy. Thank you guys so much for alerting the fic and for those few who reviewed the last chapter a big thanks to you guys! I love hearing for you keeps me motivated. Sorry for any typos; I'm tired lol. Now onto Chapter 5! **

**P.S I don't own Chuck…damn…**

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**Chapter 5: Chuck versus the Assassins**

***Nindeen Castle***

Nendir sat at his large dinner table, with a roasted chicken leg in his hand. He sipped the large glass of ale the he held in his opposite hand. The banquet room doors swung open and Nendir smiled seeing his second in command walk through the doors. "Egan, what news do you have for me? It better be good news."

"My men from Burbank just reported in. Stephen's son is on the move. The Council asked him to find the Stone before we do." Egan explained as he walked towards the large table.

"Good the plan is working. Where is Chuck headed now?" Nendir took a large bite from the drumstick he held.

"He and his bodyguard are heading towards Halldor. Do you want me to send a Death Squad to intercept them? We have several Squads near that area."

"Yes, I want to see what we're dealing with." He snapped his fingers at one of the young women who stood near the wall to his right, lifting up his glass. She quickly grabbed a pitcher of ale before scurrying over to refill his glass.

Egan nodded and glanced at the young woman who quickly went back to her designated spot along the wall, "of course Sir. And what would you like them to do with Bartowski?"

"Take him. Alive." Nendir explained and pointed his drumstick at the man. "I need him alive Egan. If he's returned to me dead everything I've planned will be for nothing."

"I understand. I'll send the word out to the Squads immediately." Turning on his heels Egan left the large banquet room, leaving Nendir to eat his meal.

"Are we there yet?" Morgan piped in from the back of the pack.

Casey grunted and rolled his eyes. "For the fifth time, no." He answered they still had a few hours before they reached Halldor, the sun had set hours ago and the last thing Casey wanted to do was stop and make camp so close to their destination.

Morgan sighed. "I'm hungry and tired."

"We just stopped to eat…" Casey glanced back over his shoulder at the little man.

"I know."

Casey sighed loudly. "Look we're taking a short cut. We'll be there in two hours instead of four."

Chuck wrapped his cloak even tighter around his body, the night air was damp and the wind had started picking up. His body was tired they had been riding all day long and only stopped a few times to break for food. Even though he wanted to get to the Inn the sound of a short cut was a little unnerving. "A short cut? Do you know this short cut well?"

"It will cut almost two hours from our ride."

"May I ask where this short cut is?" Chuck's eyebrow rose in question. The Colonel had a knack for giving them as little detail in his plan as humanly possible.

Casey grunted slightly. "We're going through the Hollow Forest."

Chuck's eyes immediately fluttered slightly.

**Tall spooky trees**

**Dense fog covering every inch of the forest**

**Weird creatures with glowing yellow eyes**

**Bloody bodies laying in the pathway or hung in trees **

His eyes grew wide after the flash of images ceased. This was one of the things he hated about the Seer ability it would happen on a whim it was usually triggered by a word, location, or face. "WHAT?" Both Morgan and Chuck piped in.

With an annoyed grunt Casey pulled Ares to a halt and turned him towards the two men behind him. "Look we have a long journey ahead of us. We can't exhaust our horses, so if I can take a short cut I'm going to take it."

"But… it's full with man eating creatures let alone what else is lurking in there." Chuck gulped slightly, the image of men half ripped open dangling from tree limbs was permanently stuck in his head.

"And it's beyond creepy." Morgan added, trying to get Modi to stop along side Chuck. The two were still trying to work out their relationship; so far Modi was winning in all executive decisions; including stopping and going.

"Look moron we're going the short cut and that's final." Casey grumbled before turning Ares back around sharply and kicked him into a trot. These two were going to be the death of him. If it wasn't one thing it was another and they had been on the road for about a day. Weeks with these two was going to be exhausting.

The trio finally approached the Hollow Forest; it was even worse than Chuck had seen in his flashes. The thick rolling fog that blanketed the entire forest looked alive. It twisted and circled the trees, rising and dipping with the forests terrain. Chuck was almost glad it was night out; he was worried to see what the forest looked like during the daylight. At least now the woods looked just as dark as everything else surrounding it.

The horses seemed to sense the weird vibe radiating off the dark forest. Chuck gave Athena a reassuring pat on the neck when she snorted loudly after entering the woods. "I'm not liking this dude…" Morgan's voice just about squeaked, his eyes darting around.

"Me either buddy…" Chuck shivered slightly pulling the hood of his cloak over his head, he felt cold the temperature in the woods seemed several degrees cooler than the small valley they had just crossed.

Casey kept a diligent eye out for anything unusual; these parts of the woods were the home of several dangerous creatures along with mercenary groups who didn't enjoy travelers passing through their lands. One hand kept a tight grip on the reins the other held the hilt of his broad sword ready to draw it if needed. The slightest sounds within the woods had Casey on high alert.

They hadn't even made it halfway into woods before Casey lifted up his hand in a fist signaling for everyone to stop. Chuck and Morgan pulled their horses to a stop and waited. Casey listened. "What is it?" Chuck asked softly.

Casey remained silent. "Do you hear something?" Morgan questioned.

Chuck stared at the back of the man's head, "Casey?" He hissed when Casey didn't reply.

"Will you two shut it!" Casey demanded shooting them both looks. Both quickly stopped questioning the man and looked around the forest. He thought he heard hoof beats ahead of them, but they sounded to far off to be sure.

Casey slowly drew his sword the metal ringing slightly as it released from its sheath. Something didn't feel right. He glanced over his shoulder. "Whatever happens, stay on your horse."

Chuck's eyes widened, "what?"

"Stay on your horse Bartowski!" It was then Chuck heard it, the sound of thundering hooves coming from the front of them. They could only see a good fifty yards in front, the fog was too thick to see anything beyond that.

The six riders suddenly appeared of nowhere heading straight towards them, their weapons drawn. Casey leapt into action wielding his sword at the riders coming towards him. The sudden clashing of metal caused Morgan's horses to become restless. Magni pulled himself loose from Morgan's hands when the riders continued to barrel at them, the Welsh Cob whipped around and took off in the opposite direction. Chuck's eyes widened seeing four of the riders continue towards him. "Umm… Chuck…" Morgan stammered seeing the same thing he was. "Trouble."

Chuck froze; he wasn't prepared for this type of situation. It was not in his training. Athena began to shift slightly seeing the horses coming at her, the warhorse began to take a few steps back wanting to protect her rider. Chuck was about to turn Athena around and make a run for it when an arrow whizzed by his by his head towards the on coming riders. The arrow hit the lead rider square in the chest, knocking him off his horse.

Two horses galloped past them meeting the three oncoming rider's right before they reached Chuck's position. They seemed to come out of nowhere. Everything happened so fast; the two new riders joined the fight distracting the other riders from their pursuit towards Chuck. Chuck's eyes darted around watching the weapons sliced every which way the heated battle seemed to end as quickly as it started.

Casey quickly returned to Chuck circling quickly in front of him raising his bloody sword in anticipation to the two new players to turn around and attack. Chuck couldn't help but peak around Casey's horse watching the two riders circle back towards them. They slowly came to a sudden halt twenty feet in front of them. Their weapons dripped with blood and Chuck gulped, the two had taken out four men in minutes. It didn't take a genius to realize they were soldiers.

They pushed back their hoods; Casey grunted loudly in disgust, Morgan whistled lowly, and Chuck's eyes widened. They were women.

"Walker…" Casey's eyes narrowed staring at the blonde, Sarah Walker, Langston Graham's wild card enforcer. A low growl spotting the red head to Sarah's left, Carina Miller, the femme fatale who was the bane to his existence. "Carina…" He muttered putting his sword away. "Should have known it was going to be you two joining this little party."

Chuck quickly moved up next to Casey. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the blonde woman in front of him. Chuck couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a woman so beautiful. He quickly stopped staring and glanced at Casey, "So… What's going on?"

"Meet the rest of our team." Casey huffed he wasn't too pleased about this development. He knew Beckman didn't tell him for a reason; he would have protested from the get-go.

"Team? Us? With them?" Chuck stammered slightly.

"Meet Sarah Walker and Carina Miller." Casey introduced their new companions to Chuck and Morgan. "Chuck Bartowski and Morgan Grimes." He introduced his company to the women.

Sarah moved Loki up towards the group and raised an eyebrow slightly, Bartowski Stephen's son. His shaggy brown hair, deep brown eyes, and boyish good looks she couldn't help but smirk slightly. He was cute; her smirk quickly dropped why was she thinking that? She shouldn't be thinking how cute he was, not at all, this was an assignment. "Nice to meet you both." She finally spoke up and wiped the blood from her sword on her pant leg before returning it to her back.

"You. Too." Chuck cleared his throat slightly trying not to stare at her once again. He needed to focus and not stare at the beautiful woman in front of him.

A deep howl sounded off behind Morgan and just about jump out of his saddle. "Wolves! Run!"

Sarah smirked slightly, "we're fine."

Another howl rang out. "Are you hearing that? We're going to die!" Morgan kicked Modi trying to move out from back of the group so he wouldn't be the first to go.

Rolling her eyes Sarah gave a loud pitch whistle, the howl sounded again in response. Thor trotted out of the fog towing Magni behind him with the lead in his mouth. Sarah smiled. "Looks like you guys lost something. We saw him running past us, thought something must be up."

Casey noticed the Magni and couldn't help but shoot Morgan a glare. "You lost the pack horse?"

"I may or may not have dropped the lead in all the commotion." Morgan explained innocently.

Sarah gracefully dismounted Loki and walked up to the large dog. "Holy shit!" Morgan yelped seeing the large Hellhound appear next to him. Chuck's eyes widened more seeing Sarah approach the massive black hound. What the hell was she doing?

"Good boy." Sarah rubbed Thor's ear before taking the lead from his mouth. She led Magni over to Morgan who's eyes were about to bug out of his head. "Might want to hold onto him next time," she handed the bearded man the lead.

"Wh… What? Is that?" Morgan fumbled slightly with the lead still staring at the scary looking hound.

"His name is Thor." Sarah explained before mounting Loki.

"Who were those guys?" Carina finally asked, relaxing in her saddle more.

"A six man team highly trained… sounds like a Death Squad to me." Casey analyzed the situation they had just been in.

Chuck's eyes suddenly fluttered when the images started flashing through his brain.

**A group of six riders**

**A castle imbedded into a mountain side**

**Bloody battle scenes**

**Men being tortured**

**Nendir's face**

The man's face was the last thing that Chuck saw; his eyes grew wide and Casey stared at him. "You flashed didn't you?" Chuck nodded quickly in reply. Carina and Sarah glanced at each other wondering what they were talking about.

"What does Nendir have to do with Death Squads?" Nendir had been his father's apprentice for years before his father's death. The Death Squads were highly trained soldiers and assassins; they were killing machines but usually didn't travel far from Nindeen and often travelled towards the South not North into Cali.

Sarah looked at Casey with a questioning look on her face, "you didn't tell him?"

"It's not important."

"Tell me what?"

"Don't worry about it Bartowski. We should get moving before another one shows up." Casey explained.

"No tell me."

"The Death Squads work for Nendir." Sarah explained to Chuck, he should have been informed on more of the details before being sent out.

Chuck's eyes widened. "What? That's impossible!" Nendir had always been nice to him and was a good guy. Chuck had known him for years there was no way Nendir would be working the Death Squads.

"He's also after the Stone." Casey butted in. "Nendir must have found out that we were after the Stone as well." Things now getting interesting, maybe this quest wouldn't be such a babysitting job as he originally thought.

"What's a Death Squad?" Morgan piped in finally getting a handle on Magni who desperately wanted to turn and run away.

"Trust me buddy you don't really want to know." Chuck shot over his shoulder at his best friend. The less details Morgan knew the better.

"They torture and kill people. Highly trained usually work in groups of four to six. They take no prisoners, if you get caught by one you might as well run yourself with your sword. It will be a much less painful way to die then get tortured and killed by those bastards." Carina tried not to smirk slight seeing the blood drain from Morgan's face his eyes wide in terror. It was fun scaring the weak little man.

"Carina." Sarah gave her partner a warning.

Carina smirked with a shrug, "what? They have a right to know now."

Casey grunted Morgan and Chuck looked more scared than ever now. "Lets get moving. You two take the rear I'll lead us out of here."

"Why should we take the rear…? We always travel these woods we know the area better than anyone. You take rear we'll take point." Sarah argued.

"I was put in charge here."

Sarah's eyes narrowed, "and we were called in to be an equal part of this. You need us."

"I need you to take the rear." Casey challenged.

Chuck's eyes darted back and forth between the two, neither looked like they were going to back down. "Hey… umm… Casey why don't we let the girls here take the lead until we get out of the woods and then once we're out you can lead us the rest of the way to Halldor." He was trying to be diplomatic, not really wanting to take sides between the two.

There was a long pause, "fine." Both Casey and Sarah agreed.

"Great." Chuck smiled slightly. "Now let's go." The fog continued to roll around them consuming the bodies of the Death Squad in its thick mist. This place was still giving him the creeps.

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**A/N: And the team is now together! Plan on a lot more action and Chuck/Sarah moments in future chapters. If my work schedule allows I'm gong to write up the next chapter this weekend. Hope you guys liked this chapter! :D**

**As always reviews are most welcome! They are encouraged ;) They keep me writing.**


	6. Chuck vs the Stable

**A/N: First off let me just say SO SORRY for the update delay. Work has been crazy and needless to say I was having a little trouble trying to figure out where to go with this chapter and the beginning of Sarah and Chuck relationship. But I'm back and full of ideas!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed that last chapter! So let's get to it! **

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**Chapter 6: Chuck versus the Stable**

Their pace quickened after leaving the woods once Casey took the lead, stepping up to a fast paced canter. They finally slowed down to a trot and then to a walk once they approached Halldor's outskirts. It was still hours before dawn and the lanterns dimly lit the wide streets. Chuck's three bodyguards kept a sharp eye out on the passing buildings, doors and small alleyways making sure no one approached them out of the blue.

They stopped in front of the Inn's stable and dismounted. "Walker, go in and get us some rooms." Casey ordered Sarah.

Sarah's eyebrow rose slightly, she did not like being ordered around especially by the military man. "Excuse me?" She crossed her arms and turned towards Casey. "You should go get us rooms and we will stay with Chuck." Sarah motioned towards Carina and herself. The two of them were more equipped to handle protection detail than Casey.

Casey grunted lowly and puffed up his chest taking a stepped forward towards Sarah daring her to continue to challenge him. "I was put lead on this. I'm ordering you to go in and get us rooms."

"Ordering me." Sarah just about growled and took a step closer to Casey challenging the man right back.

Carina quickly shoved Freya's reins into Sarah's hands. "I'll do it." The conversation between the two was beginning to become more heated and she noticed the look in Sarah's eyes. She knew that look; the conversation wasn't going to end well without someone intervening, and Chuck and Morgan were standing there wide-eyed not making any move to help.

The duo didn't relax in the slightest but neither one made any more challenging advances. "Plus I'm the only one who can get us a good discount." Carina smirked loosening the top of her corset a little; she gave Casey a wink who just grunted in return when his eyes noticed what she was doing.

Sarah rolled her eyes slightly, "just don't get into trouble."

"Don't worry; I'll do everything you wouldn't do." Carina grinned brightly before walking off towards the in.

"That's what I'm afraid off…" She muttered before leading the two horses into the stable.

"Dude… what just happened?" Morgan finally spoke up.

Chuck stuttered slightly eyes still wide open. "I have no idea…"

"I vote for staying on everyone's good sides."

"I completely agree buddy." Chuck nodded in agreement.

Casey walked up next to them and growled. "Move it ladies. We don't have time to stand around and chat all night."

Chuck found an empty hitch to tie Athena too. He carefully took off the horse's saddle and gave her a good brushing while talking to her softly. After giving Athena a good rub under her jaw when he was done Chuck looked around at the others. Casey had finished and was now helping Morgan deal with the two stubborn twins. Sarah's horse was still tacked up while she took care of Carina's mare. He walked across the room to Sarah's horse and patted Loki's thick neck before reaching to take the saddle off.

Sarah turned around from Freya to start untacking Loki; she reached up to pull the saddle off her eyes snapped up feeling a pair of hands under her own. Her eyes met Chuck's; he gave her a lopsided smile. Sarah couldn't help but stare into his deep brown eyes; she suddenly realized her hands were still over his. Clearing her throat slightly she removed her hands keeping her eyes remained fixed on him. "What are you doing?" She finally asked.

"Umm… helping." Chuck gave her another smile before pulling off the saddle.

She watched him closely as he placed her saddle next to Carina's. "Chuck you don't have to help me."

"I know." The smile never left his lips as Chuck grabbed a brush.

Sarah couldn't help but smirk slightly as she picked up her own brush. Chuck remained silent as he brushed Loki down, but continued to glance over Loki's back at Sarah. She was absolutely stunning even in the low dimmed lighting of the stable. "What?" She had noticed Chuck staring at her. "Something wrong?"

"Nope. Nothings wrong. Just fine." Chuck stammered quickly realizing he had been caught. His eyes quickly dipped down and resumed his brushing.

"Okay…" Sarah couldn't help but let another small smile cross her lips. He was cute. Her thoughts went to his quirky yet adorable smile, tussled curly hair, and kind eyes. '_Get a grip Walker_' she thought to her self quickly letting the smile fade from her lips, he was an assignment, an asset, nothing more. Assassins don't get attached… or so she thought.

The two remained silent but neither could help but glance at one another once and a while. Carina walked back into the stable her eyes narrowed slightly seeing Sarah glancing at Chuck with a small smile; she didn't like the look her partner was giving Chuck. They were different than looks she had seen before towards men, it worried her. "I got us a few rooms right next to each other." She announced to the group.

"Good Chuck is staying with me." Casey announced firmly grabbing his pack off the ground.

Sarah tossed her brush to the ground she was about to argue when Chuck spoke up, "that's probably the best." Sarah's eyes shot in his direction. "I mean you guys will be right next door if we need you." Chuck tried not to meet Sarah's eyes as she stared at him. Just being around the two beautiful women was hard enough, but the thought of having to sleep in the same room as them, especially Sarah, made his palms sweat.

"What about me?" Morgan piped in.

Casey walked by the man and slapped him on the back, "you're sleeping on the floor."

Morgan frowned. "How lovely…."

Chuck gave Sarah a small smile before walking over to grab his pack from the floor near Athena. He quickly followed Casey and Morgan who began their way towards the Inn. "What's wrong with you…?" Carina muttered at Sarah when the three boys left the stable.

Sarah raised an eyebrow tossing her bag over her shoulder and gathered up her weapons. "Ahh…Nothing." The sudden questioning confused her.

"You're looking Bartowski like he's the first hot blooded male you've seen in years."

Sarah scoffed at the accusation. "I am not!"

"Oh yes you are. You have the hots for the nerd don't you?" Carina crossed her arms and noticed Sarah's body tense for a brief second.

"I do not!"

A slight smirk crossed Carina's lips, "you like him."

"He is just an asset nothing more." Sarah snapped sharply at her partner before walking by her leaving the stables. '_I'm not falling for Chuck_' she told her self several times on her way to the Inn, figuring if she said it enough times she'd actually believe it.

It was early morning when Sarah woke up and got dressed for the day. They had a long day of travelling ahead of them and she needed to make sure everything was set for the journey. She left the room quietly with Thor right by her side and headed out to feed the horses before getting some breakfast for herself. Stepping out from the Inn she paused for a second and took a deep breath, she loved mornings. A faint mist coated the streets it was slowly beginning to dissipating as the sun started breaking over the horizon.

Thor trotted ahead of her making his way toward the stable. Sarah paused for a brief step hearing a faint voice coming from within the stable. Her hand quickly snapped up motioning for Thor to sit then stay. Remaining silent she approached the large doors to the stable, her hand clasping around the knives hilt that was strapped to her thigh, she poked her head in to see who was there inside.

Chuck sat on a hay bale smiling at the young black haired boy who sat next to him. "Make fire!" The young boy beamed at Chuck.

"Fire huh?" Chuck laughed slightly as the boy nodded his head rapidly. "Ok let's see." The boy moved closer to Chuck watching his hands intensely.

Sarah's posture relaxed and let go of her knife seeing Chuck with the young boy; who couldn't have been older than six years old; she leaned against the doorframe remaining completely silent. A large smile spread across her lips when she noticed a small flame spring from Chuck's fingertips. The boy squealed slightly watching Chuck dance the small hovering flame across his fingers before squeezing his fist shut extinguishing the flame. "Again!"

Chuck smirked brightly, "again?"

"Please," the boy begged Chuck with the cutest smile he could muster.

There was no way Chuck could say no. "Okay, one more time." The small flame leapt from his fingers once again. Chuck rolled the flame across his fingers once again transferring it to his other hand right in front of the boy then clenched his fist and smiled at the boy. Chuck ruffled the boys shaggy hair, "alright little man you should go help your mom get breakfast ready."

The boy nodded rapidly jumping to his feet. "Bye Mr. Chuck." He grabbed the egg basket that was full and dashed out the side door.

Sarah couldn't wipe the large smile from her face even if she really wanted to; the scene had been too adorable. Even though she should be furious that he left the safety of his room without any protection. "What are you doing out here?"

Chuck jumped to his feet with a slight squeal. Sarah walked into the stable and crossed her arms. "I couldn't sleep," he smiled at her sheepishly. "I'm sorry I didn't get one of you up… I just really needed to think."

"Thinking about what?" Sarah questioned walking up closer to Chuck.

"Me and my role here." Chuck shrugged slightly. "I'm not trained for this kind of stuff. I shouldn't be here."

Her smile slowly faded. "You are here because you're special Chuck. We need you." She stopped right in front of him and stared into his eyes.

"What if I let you guys down?" It was one of his worst fears not being able to flash on something important that would help them on their journey.

Sarah held his gaze for several moments. "I trust you." It was the truth. She had not known Chuck for 12hrs yet but deep down she trusted him wholeheartedly. Sarah was good at reading people and Chuck; well there was just something about him, he was a good decent guy. He was special.

He gave her one of his huge Bartowski smiles and Sarah's knees just about went weak. "You really mean that?"

She just nodded vigorously it was the only thing she could do after that smile. Finally after clearing her throat she took a step back from him creating a more appropriate boundary between them. "We should get some breakfast. We have a long day ahead of us."

"That sounds great." Chuck smiled once again.

'_God stop doing that_' Sarah tried not to melt she turned and started walking out of the stable. Thor wagged his tail and Sarah let him up from his sit. Chuck walked out after her keeping himself close to Sarah. A low growl erupted from Thor's throat when he noticed how close Chuck got to _his_ Sarah. Sarah snapped her finger at Thor, "Thor enough." The growling suddenly stopped but that didn't stop Thor from walking directly behind Chuck keeping a close eye on him.

Casey fumed the entire breakfast he was upset at the fact that Chuck was able to sneak out of the room without him waking up, Chuck a civilian with no military training. Chuck gulped every time Casey snarled at him no amount of apologizing seemed to help either. Casey finally reached into his pack and pulled out a rolled up map. "What's that?" Carina questioned after sipping her milk.

"A map."

"No shit, I didn't realize that." Carina muttered sarcastically.

Casey grunted. "General Beckman gave it to me when I was assigned to this. It was in the ancient achieves, she said it could help Chuck flash." He quickly started unrolling the delicate paper and laid it in front of Chuck.

Chuck looked down at the map quickly before looking at Casey, "what am I supposed to do?"

"Look at it idiot." Casey growled.

"Right…" Chuck returned his attention to the map in front of him. He looked at all the markers and roads his eyes stopped on a small red shield.

**Full moon**

**A stone horse statue hidden by some vines**

**A large waterfall**

**Cave drawing of a mountain**

Once the images stopped and he pointed to the shield, "we need to go there."

Pulling the map back around Casey looked at the location. "That's a five day ride from here just across the Southern border. We should stop in Truro for some last minute supplies before crossing over."

With the mention of Truro Chuck perked up with a large smile. Morgan just about coughed on his bread. "Dude we could see Ellie."

"I was thinking the same thing buddy."

Sarah glanced at Chuck she couldn't help but clench her fork seeing the large smile that suddenly spread across Chuck's face at the mention of this Ellie woman, it was obvious he loved her. Carina kicked Sarah's shin noticing the angry look on her partners face. With a soft grunt Sarah quickly let go of the death grip she had on her spoon, what was getting into her? The minute she saw Chuck expression the ideas of how she could physically hurt this Ellie started flooding in.

This was not like her. She was jealous of a woman she never met all because of Chuck. Chuck a man he hardly knew.

"Lets move out we have a lot of traveling to do." Casey ordered getting to his feet.

Sarah watched everyone get up from the table before slowly following suit. Her eyes transfixed on Chuck as he walked away from the table. '_Get a grip Walker…You need to focus. Stop worrying about Chuck._' That was going to be one hard thing to do and Sarah knew it.

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**A/N: So what'd you think? I really want to push the Sarah and Chuck relationship but it's a very important part of the story. Expect a little more action/violence in the next chapter ;)**

**As always please review! I love hearing from you guys. **


	7. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Well you probably thought I dropped off the face of the Earth with no updates and/or word from me. And well I did there for a while. Work was a little crazy for several months and I kind of lost inspiration to write with everything going on.

But I'm back! I've been writing, so YAY! Got some great ideas for this story; including introducing some more mythical creatures and a couple of battle scenes planned out. I'm hoping you'll like what I have in stored for the fic. I really love hearing input from all you readers out there, so TY! If you have any requests or thoughts for the story I'd love to hear them! Feel free to PM me or write it in a review :D

The next chapter should be finished and posted sometime next week.

I want to thank all of you who have favorited, alerted, and/or reviewed the fic it really means a lot to me :D

~ Quest


	8. Chuck vs the Horn

**A/N: I just want to thank you all who have read the fic and encouraged me to continue. Really means a lot! Hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

**Chapter 7: Chuck versus the Horn**

***Two Days Later***

Chuck twirled his two short staffs in his hands he was more accustom to his single staff, but Casey thought it would serve him better for travelling with smaller weapons. Every morning he was up practicing with his new weapons he needed to be on his game; not only to flash but to also perform in battle. Granted Casey still refused to let Chuck pick up a sword and made it very clear that if there was to be any trouble that he'd stay on his horse and be prepared to run.

But that didn't stop Chuck from practicing what if they needed his help and he was unprepared for any type of battle. After a stern warning by Carina, who had been stuck with the tail end of the night rotation, he remained just on the outskirts of the camp so she could keep a watchful eye on him.

Chuck was too focused on his drills he didn't notice Sarah coming up from behind watching him intensely. "Not bad," she finally spoke causing him to jump out of his skin.

Chuck quickly whipped around catching his breath, "how long… have you been… standing there?" He stood there staring at her wide eyed; even after just waking up she looked beautiful as ever. Chuck had to quickly bring his attention up to Sarah's eyes so she wouldn't notice him staring at her tight leather outfit that hugged her every curve.

"Long enough." Sarah smirked slightly. "You know you'd learn more if you sparred with someone." She brought up a large stick she had found getting to a defensive position. "Attack me."

Chuck's eyes widened. "I'm not… What? ... Ahhh…"

Sarah huffed and quickly changed tactics. Stepping forward quickly she swept at his legs. He instinctively blocked and continued to block Sarah's every move as she continued to heavily assault him. She finally paused, "come on Chuck you need to attack me."

"I…" Chuck paused for a second, "don't want to hurt you."

Sarah couldn't help but give him a look. "Chuck I'm a highly trained assassin… you are not going to hurt me. I promise." She spun the stick in her hand idly. "I can't teach you anything if you don't actually attack me."

He huffed she had a point. "Fine." Chuck finally stepped forward and attacked.

Sarah was impressed with Chuck's speed but he still lacked the tactical finesse or strategy to take a formidable opponent down. She stopped his attack and grabbed one of his wrists. "Low." Sarah brought his wrist down so one of the sticks was pointed at her thigh. "You need to hit high and low especially when your opponent has only one weapon. It is much harder for them to stop a dual attack."

Chuck nodded hanging on to every word she said. Sarah kept her hand firmly around Chuck's wrist; his heart rate increased with her contact. His eyes were transfixed on her blue eyes and the two just stared at each other before Carina's voice broke them apart. "Martin made breakfast."

"You mean Morgan?" Chuck's eyebrow rose slightly in question.

"Morgan, Martin, whatever. Food's ready."

Sarah quickly let go of Chuck's wrist and tossed her stick aside. She gave him a small smile. "We'll practice later."

"It's a date." Chuck agreed as she turned away. Sarah glanced at him briefly before walking away. "It's a date… so stupid..." He groaned softly shaking his head after she walked back into camp. "Real smooth Chuck…real smooth." Chuck followed shortly after; he plopped down next to Morgan who handed him a bowl of oatmeal like substance.

He poked at the goop with his wooden spoon before taking a bite. Chuck had to admit Morgan could make anything taste good even when it looked utterly horrible. "Is that -"

"Mint." Morgan finished with a nod and a proud smile.

"It's excellent." Chuck smirked.

Casey grunted slightly, "it's edible."

Sarah glared at Casey slight, "it's very good Morgan thank you for breakfast."

Morgan just smiled brightly. The group finished up breakfast before quickly packing up to get back onto the road. Chuck grabbed two packs and slowly made his way over to Sarah who was still in the process of tacking up Loki. He gently tossed the pack up behind her saddle and began strapping it securely down. Sarah's eyes darted at him briefly as she synched up her girth.

"Thanks…" She said softly glancing at him once again.

Chuck smiled brightly at her. "Not a problem." He flashed her one last Bartowski grin before walking over to Athena strapping on his own pack. Chuck glanced over his shoulder feeling a pair of eyes watching him; Sarah's gaze quickly looked away when their eyes met.

"Mount up; we have a long day ahead of us." Casey ordered climbing into his saddle and waited for the others to follow suit.

"Yes sir, Casey sir." Morgan muttered at the order. Casey's sudden glare caused Morgan to gulp deeply. "Right… Getting on the horse," he replied quickly climbing up.

Sarah and Casey both drew their swords simultaneously as they reached the edge of the swamp. Carina gripping her bow and pulled an arrow from its quiver. "Umm… is there something we should know?" Chuck piped in seeing his guards suddenly on high alert.

"Just keep an eye out and stay quiet." Casey grumbled.

"Yes… I know that but it would be nice to know exactly what we're keeping an eye out for you know." Chuck stated looking around as they started weaving their way along the path through the swamp.

"There are some very dangerous creatures in here." Casey muttered, with his eyes scanning his sides of the trail.

"And why are we going through here if it's dangerous?" Chuck hissed lowly.

Sarah looked back at him. "It's a shortcut."

"Oh and that makes it all the better." Chuck just about stuttered. "I vote for no more shortcuts."

"I second that." Morgan agreed quickly. Even though the sun was at high noon the swamp had an eerie feeling about it and it frightened not only Morgan but Chuck as well. "Shouldn't we be moving faster if it's dangerous?" Morgan questioned. Not that he minded their slow walking pace his butt much appreciated it but a quicker gait would get them out of harms way.

"Too many obstacles in the trail, we don't need a horse breaking a leg." Sarah answered. "Don't worry Morgan another hour or so we'll be in the valley."

Thor paused suddenly the hair on his back rose slightly as he gave a low growl. The horses suddenly grew more restless snorting and stomping their hooves at the pending danger. "I think we need to move now." Casey's hand tightened on his sword.

The ground began to tremble. "Casey?" Chuck just about squeaked feeling the rumble.

Casey quickly exchanged glances with Sarah, the sudden crash of branches and grass caused his eyes to widen. "Stampede!" But it was too late.

Several Minotaur broke the tree line yards ahead of the group. The large male stopped dead in his tracks turning towards the humans who dared cross through their lands. He let out a mighty bellow before charging straight at them. Sarah's eyes widened when she noticed the herd turned directions and started straight at them. She jumped off Loki drawing her second sword in the process.

Casey and Carina quickly followed suit. "What are you doing?" Chuck yelled at them his eyes bulging as he watched his three protectors prepare for the oncoming attack.

"Stay on your horse Chuck!" Sarah yelled glancing back at him. "Thor, protect Chuck." The hellhound snarled slightly not liking the order given to him but turned on his heels and loped back to Chuck and Morgan.

"Here they come." Casey gripped his sword tightly.

Carina smirked. "I got this." She quickly notched back an arrow and let it fly sending it straight into one of the charging animal's skulls. The beast stumbled to the ground sliding several feet dead. Sarah and Casey quickly jumped into action rushing towards the other five beasts expertly swinging their swords at their legs and limbs as they quickly dodged the swinging horns.

Chuck tightened his grip on the reins trying to keep Athena in place. The war horse grew more anxious with every clank of steel again bone. Battle was the horse's blood and sitting on the sidelines did not suit her.

"Chuck we need to leave." Morgan insisted.

"No we can't leave them." Chuck watched the scene unfold in front of them.

Sarah dove out of the way as one charged directly at her; she swung one of her swords at its leg while she rolled. It fell to the ground in a heap slowly struggling to regain its footing. Getting to her feet Sarah rushed to the creature to strike the fatal blow. She lifted one of her swords aiming for the neck she was so focused on the kill she didn't even hear Chuck scream her name.

The bull gorged one of his horns through her stomach lifting her right off the ground. Like a ragdoll she was thrown to the side skidding across the dirt into a bloody ball. There was no pain. She thought there would be pain. Sarah tired to take a deep breath but it only came as a raspy gurgle; a mixture of blood and air seeping into her lungs.

"SARAH!" Chuck yelled seeing the woman get tossed across the trail. His loud scream caught the attention of both the bull and her partners. Casey was the first to notice Sarah's body and started running towards his fallen comrade. He plunged his broadsword into the heart of the Minotaur that Sarah and crippled before continuing his way over to her. Carina pulled another arrow from her quiver and shot it towards the large bull that had began the retreat back into the woods hoping to injure it.

Thor growled at the retreating beasts but remained at his post next to Chuck. "Go Thor!" Chuck didn't even look down at the hound as he gave him permission to go hunt. Thor dashed by him leaping into the woods with a deep howl. Chuck urged Athena into a canter quickly rushing over to Sarah who was now surrounded by the two other warriors.

He leapt off midstride and knelt down next to Sarah trying not to freak out as he noticed all the blood around the blonde. "Sarah. Oh my god…." Chuck grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly. The wound was grizzly and beyond anything he had witnessed before. "You'll be ok. Everything will be fine." He tried to reassure her.

"Don't freak out Chuck. Doesn't even hurt…" she muttered softly coughing up some more blood. Her body finally loosing its battle to stay awake, her eyes began to roll back into her head as she started passing out

"She's going into shock." Casey sighed. "It's not going to be much longer. She's loosing a lot of blood."

There was nothing Chuck could do she was lying there dying. Morgan knelt down next to his best friend. "Chuck do something."

"I can't."

"Yes you can. You're always healing my cuts."

Chuck stared at Sarah's large mess of a wound. "Those were cuts buddy not gored stomachs!" He was starting to freak out.

"Chuck get a hold of yourself! Just try, please…" Carina just about begged him. Sarah was her partner, her friend even if it didn't work at least they tried something to save her life.

"Right. Ok. I can do this." With a huge huff Chuck shook his hands trying to get rid of the nerves. He placed both of his hands over the large wound and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath he tried to remember all of his training and focused his energy into the wound. After a few minutes Chuck rocked back sitting on his heels, his hand soaked in blood. "I can't do it… It's not working." He hung his head.

A sudden crash through the brush caused Casey and Carina to draw their weapons but eased up noticing Sarah's large hound bound out covered in blood. His face, chest, and paws completely soaked in blood. The hound had a large horn between his teeth like a prize; he dropped the horn next to Sarah. Carina gave the hound a large pat praising him for his kill.

Morgan gripped Chuck's shoulder, "you can do this."

Chuck nodded and returned his hands to the wound. After a few moments Chuck stopped it wasn't working he wasn't powerful enough. "I'm sorry… I'm not –" Chuck's eyes widened, "how far are we from Truro?" he quickly asked.

"About two hours maybe less," Casey answered narrowing his eyes he didn't like that look on Chuck's face. Chuck scrambled to his feet and quickly picked Sarah up into his arms. "Bartowski what the hell are you doing?" He demanded.

"I'm taking her to Ellie." Chuck rushed to Loki and carefully put Sarah in her saddle before swinging up behind her; he held her close and gathered the reins into one hand. The Elven horse was fast and Chuck knew it, even with double the weight the horse would be able to make it there faster than the other horses. With a quick squeeze and a cluck Loki jumped into a full canter down the path picking up even more speed with every stride taken.

"Bartowski!" Casey yelled after him as the trio Chuck left behind quickly mounted their horses and started after Chuck's disappearing figure.

**A/N: Well? I'm a little rusty with several months off and no writing, trying to get back into the swing of things. Next up we learn more about Chuck's powers and how get got his Intersect ability!**

**Reviews are most welcomed & encouraged! :D**


	9. Chuck vs the Real Girl

**A/N: Sorry for the late update but I couldn't stop writing :D This chapter is a little longer than my others, but hey that's a good thing right?**

**Thank you everyone for your reviews and alerts, really appreciate it! I apologize now for any spelling mistakes its late and I did a brief read through before posting. Hope you all like it!**

**I don't own Chuck… unfortunately…**

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**Chapter 8: Chuck versus the Real Girl**

Sarah's eyes fluttered open briefly. Three faces blurred above her. "She's coming too." She didn't recognize the woman's voice. A pretty brunette leaned down closer checking her eyes. "Sarah can you hear me?" Her eyes fluttered shut once again. "She's going under again." It was the last thing she heard and it was Chuck. He was there for her.

"El?" Chuck glanced up at his sister with deep worry across his face.

"Don't worry bro we got this." Devon clasped a hand on Chuck's shoulder giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Ellie smiled softly at her younger brother, "you did good Chuck. Let us work please."

Chuck nodded and slowly back away watching his sister and brother-in-law work on Sarah. He slowly left the house and started pacing. Waiting wasn't one of his strong suits. Thor darted around the corner and bounded to at Chuck who quickly gave the hound a pat. Within seconds the rest of the group galloped around the skidding to a stop in front of the Woodcomb residence. "Bartowski!" Casey snarled as he jumped off his horse. He rushed up the stairs and with a loud growl he snatched Chuck by the throat and pulled him close.

"Casey. Let. Go." Chuck coughed and swatted at the hand around his neck.

Casey finally let him go roughly and pointed a finger into Chuck's chest. "Start talking. Now."

Chuck rubbed his throat taking in a deep breath. "I brought Sarah to my sister. She's a healer. So is her husband." He looked around at the concerned people around him. "She'll be fine." At least he hoped. Ellie slowly walked up next to her brother and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. Chuck frowned deeply at her. "I tried healing her El."

"You did enough Chuck." A small smile spread across her lips. "You healed her internal bleeding if you hadn't she would have bled out on the ride here. You saved her life. I'm proud of you little brother." Ellie kissed his cheek and looked at the rest of the group. "Devon's finishing with Sarah and she's going to be out for a while. You can put your horses in the stable and I'll make you guys some dinner."

"Thanks El." Chuck gave her a lopsided smile before she returned inside.

Carina smirked has she walked up and slapped him on the back roughly. "Here that Chuckie you're a hero."

"Ya well I don't feel like one." He muttered softly before walking over to the post where he hastily tied Loki up when arriving to the household. Chuck kept his gaze down as he took Athena from Casey and started his way back around the house to the stable.

Chuck spent a good portion of his time brushing both horses. He was too deep in thought he never heard Morgan coming up behind him, "hey." With a slight girly shriek Chuck jumped around eyes wide. "Sorry buddy." Morgan apologized quickly while Chuck caught his breath. There was a slight pause of silence as Morgan quickly analyzed his best friend; "so what's really bothering you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Chuck returned his attention back to Loki.

Morgan sighed, "Well first off you've been hiding away in here for several hours now. Secondly, Ellie has made one of her famous stews and fresh biscuits, which you never ever pass up. And thirdly you haven't once come in to check on Sarah. This is not like the Chuck Bartowski I know." He crossed his arms when Chuck glanced up. "Talk to me."

He was right. Keeping everything in and bottled up it wasn't like him. "I froze up buddy. I'm not this hero everyone expects me to be." Chuck turned towards him. "I could have saved Sarah."

"But you did," Morgan narrowed his eyes inquisitively. "You healed her enough so she wouldn't bleed out."

Chuck huffed and tossed his brush aside. "No before that. I saw the bull charge at her. I could have thrown a fire ball or even a snow ball at the thing. Even if I wasn't able to stop it I could have distracted it long enough for Sarah to turn around and kill it. It's my fault she got hurt." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm so not prepared for this."

"It's not your fault."

"She could have died Morgan!"

"But she didn't. And I know you Chuck, you are a hero. You can do this, I trust you one hundred percent." Morgan smiled brightly which got a smile in return from Chuck. "Now come on in before Casey and Carina eat all the stew."

Chuck let out a deep sigh and put his arm around Morgan shoulders. "Thanks buddy." The man had a talent of knowing how to put him in a better mood.

"Anytime dude."

After dinner Chuck plopped himself down in a chair next to Sarah's bed and just stared at her. "What have you gotten yourself into Chuck?" Ellie asked softly leaning against the doorframe of the room watching her brother closely.

"Nothing." Chuck quickly answered.

Ellie gave him a look. "You don't just show up with an injured girl and a group of travelling companions. Something is up."

"Ellie I can't tell you everything. I'm under strict orders by the Council."

Ellie's eyes widened slightly. "Oh Chuck you didn't… Tell me you didn't get involved with them… After all dad when through?"

Chuck hung his head slightly. "I'm sorry Ellie I couldn't say no. They need me for something important. I can't tell you any more than that right now."

"But it's dangerous." Ellie finally stated softly after a brief moment of silence between the two.

"Casey, Carina, and Sarah are here to protect me." Chuck explained with a small smile. "I'm safe. Today was just an unforeseen accident." He stared at Sarah. "When will she wake up?"

"I don't know. She lost a lot of blood. We were able to heal the wound but she'll need time to recover." Ellie walked into the room and pulled an extra blanket it from the closet before handing it to Chuck. "Get some sleep." She kissed his forehead before walking out of the room.

Thor trotted past Ellie and into the room as Chuck got situated in his chair and sat down next to him with a soft whimper. "She'll wake up soon." Chuck gave the large hound a scratch behind the ear. Thor placed his head in Chuck's lap letting him scratch his ears gently.

The morning sun shined brightly into the room causing Sarah to stir from her deep sleep as the light hit her eyes. Groaning slightly she started to sit up but thought otherwise feeling a sudden lightheadedness. Her eyes began to adjust to her new surroundings and glanced around the current room she was in. It was small, tidy, and very homey looking. She wasn't in any type of tavern that was for sure. Her gaze finally fell upon Chuck who was awkwardly sleeping in a chair near her bed. A small smile spread across her lips realizing he had stayed with her.

She stared at him for a few minutes; her smile widened even more seeing Thor sleeping at the man's feet. Sarah had never seen Thor take to someone so quickly, the hound just about tolerated Carina and he knew her for years. He had only known Chuck for a few days and was already sleeping soundly at Chuck's feet. She slowly sat back up and let out a deep sigh. After carefully climbing out of bed she lifted up the shirt she currently wore and noticed the dark purple bruise where she had been gored. Sarah stretched slightly and tried not to groan when the muscles around the bruise ached.

Thor heard her movement and quickly woke up trotting over to her. Sarah knelt down smiling ruffling his fur behind his ears as the hound licked her face wagging his tail happy to see his master and friend awake. She slowly got back up to her feet and walked over to her clothes that were draped over the back of a chair. Sarah quietly changed trying not to wake Chuck who was still passed out, after grabbing her swords she walked over pulling Chuck's blanket up more before leaving the room.

Sarah found Carina sitting out on the small porch restringing her bow. "Tell me why you guys still here?"

Carina quickly looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Hey you should be resting."

"I'm fine." She crossed over to her partner and slowly sat down trying not to wince. "You should have been back on the road by now."

"Chuck wouldn't let us leave. He can be very persistent." Carina grumbled. "Plus we all needed a good rest after yesterday." She returned her attention back to her bow.

"So where are we?"

"Truro. Chuck brought you to Ellie's for treatment."

Sarah clenched her fist slightly at the mention of that woman's name again. "The girlfriend huh?" It was only right to assume Chuck had a girlfriend; he was good looking, sweet, and humble. What normal girl wouldn't want date him?

"Sister actually." Sarah's eyes widened slightly glancing at her partner. "She's a healer. So is her very hot husband." Carina smirked brightly which got a dangerous look from Sarah. "Don't worry I didn't try anything."

"Good."

Carina remained quiet for a few minutes. "You know if I didn't know better I would think you have the hots for our Chuckie."

"What? No. I absolutely do not." Sarah quickly stammered. "Chuck is just the assignment, nothing more."

"Right." Carina stared at her friend. "He saved you, you know."

Sarah's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What?"

"He tried healing you. Healed you just enough to stop some of your internal bleeding so you didn't die on your way here. Even rode Loki with you all the way here."

"He did WHAT? Was he trying to get himself killed?" Sarah snapped. "Why didn't you stop him? You know better than anyone… Loki does not allow other people on his back. He just about threw you into a tree that one time."

Carina narrowed her eyes. "You were dying. I wasn't really thinking about that at the time." Sarah huffed and rubbed her face. "Why don't you go grab some food you need to build up your strength." With a nod Sarah slowly got to her feet.

She walked back into the house with Thor in tow and made her way in to find the kitchen. Morgan and Casey sat around the table eating breakfast when they heard the clop of Sarah's boots enter the room. "Sarah!" Relief spread across Morgan's face. "You're awake! Where's Chuck?"

Sarah couldn't help but smile at the excited bearded man. "He's still sleeping."

"Which you should still be doing." Ellie announced walking into the room with two more plates of food.

Sarah's attention quickly went to the new women who entered the room. She recognized her face from the brief moment in and out of consciousness when she first arrived. "You must be Ellie." Sarah sat down at the table. "Thank you for saving me."

Ellie grinned brightly, "You're welcome. Here eat." She set a plate of eggs down in front of Sarah before taking a seat next to her.

Halfway through a mainly silent breakfast Chuck dashed out of the room, his hair disheveled and he was barely awake but waking up to find Sarah's bed empty and Thor gone caused him to freak out. He slid to a stop when he noticed Sarah eating breakfast at the table. The attention at the table quickly turned to him. Chuck quickly ran his hand through his unruly mop of hair. "Morning Chuck." He smiled brightly when Sarah spoke to him with a slight smile of her own.

Ellie glanced between the two who were currently staring at one another before quickly standing up. "Here Chuck take my seat. I'll get you some breakfast." She tried to control her excitement seeing the look her brother was currently giving Sarah. He liked her.

"Thanks El." He shuffled over to the table as Ellie hurried off to the kitchen to get him some food and slowly took the free seat next to Sarah. "I'm glad you're awake."

Sarah looked up from her plate staring at him, "thanks to you." An appreciative smile spread across her face. She owed the man her life.

Chuck couldn't help blush slightly. "Na I didn't do much. Ellie and Awesome saved you."

"You're selling yourself short Chuck." Sarah continued to stare at him. Why did he keep doing this? There were so many things great about him and he didn't even realize it. Her hand reached up and brushed some of his curly hair from his forehead to try and control its bedtime curl. She realized the sudden impulse she had done and quickly snatched her hand back returning it to her spoon.

Chuck's eyes just about bulged out of his head feeling Sarah's fingertips brush across his forehead. He cleared his throat and tried to control his blushing. Chuck coughed slightly clearing his throat, "so what's the plan for today?" His gaze looked at Casey who had just finished his breakfast.

"After we finish breakfast we'll restock our supplies before heading for the border." Casey answered. "We need to leave by noon."

Ellie walked back into the room with a large plate of eggs and bacon placing it down in front of him. "Thanks Ellie." Chuck smiled up at her before digging in. "Where's awesome?"

"He's making house calls today." Ellie replied watching Chuck and Sarah closely.

There is was an awkward silence around the table as breakfast went on. "Thank you for breakfast." Casey gruffly thanked Ellie before getting to his feet. "Come on moron." He grabbed Morgan by the back of the shirt yanking the man to his feet. "You're with me."

"Yes sir." Morgan scrambled around his chair. He didn't mind being Casey's gopher he just like being included in the Colonel's plans it made him feel more part of the team.

"Yes, Ellie thank you for breakfast." Sarah finally stated slowly getting up from the table. "I'm going to check on the horses."

"Remember to take it easy Sarah; you're going to be a little sore the next few days."

Sarah smiled at her sweetly. "I will thank you."

"Spill." Ellie turned to her brother after Sarah had left.

Chuck just about choked on his eggs. "What? Spill what?" He stuttered slightly.

"You and Sarah."

"I know nothing of what you speak." Ellie gave him a look. "Really Ellie there is nothing going on. She's just a friend… I think… well actually we don't really talk much."

"She obviously likes you."

Chuck shook his head slightly. "She's just being nice."

Ellie got up and started cleaning up the table after Chuck had finished his breakfast. "Trust me little brother she likes you. We women know these things. Just don't screw it up." She kissed his forehead. "Be yourself."

Chuck watched her walk back into the kitchen and just smiled slightly to himself. He sat at the table for a brief moment before getting up and making his way towards the barn. Thor greeted him wagging his wildly at the lanky man. Chuck knelt down to say hello scratching Thor's inner ear getting a soft groan of content in reply. Sarah peaked around the corner after hearing her trusted companion's happy groan. A large smile spread across her face watching them interact. "He likes you." She finally said walking towards them. "Thor doesn't like many people."

"We came to a mutual understanding." Chuck grinned at her scratching underneath Thor's muzzle. "I let him kill big bad creatures and he doesn't eat me."

Sarah laughed. "He wouldn't eat you."

"I don't know a few days ago I'm pretty sure he thought I'd make a good midday snack. He was licking his lips at me; 'I bet he tastes like chicken'." His Thor impression got another giggle from Sarah.

Sarah leaned against one of the beams near them and just watching. "Thank you again Chuck," she said softly.

Chuck slowly stood up giving Thor one last pat. "For?"

"Saving me."

"You would have done the same for me." Chuck gave her one of his winning smiles.

She gladly returned his smile. "Your something else Chuck Bartowski."

"What can I say, I'm fantastic." He joked with another smile.

"Ya you are." She stared at him in all seriousness. The duo locked eyes for several seconds before Sarah continued. "You're smart, funny, caring. You have all his magical talent not including your father's seer ability." She gave him a soft smile. "So what is your magical gift?

"Huh?"

"What are all your abilities?" She was curious there wasn't much in his file; everything Chuck Bartowski was pretty vague. "You trained at the Mage Academy that's hard to get into."

Chuck shrugged. "I dabble in several things. Jacks-of-all trades if you will. I can do small stuff with healing and ice. Fire and metals are more of my forte though."

"Metal?"

"I consider it more of an Engineering skill; manipulating metals and iron. I worked in my dad's lab for years creating weapons and gear for the soldiers. Even created a new type of armor. It's lighter and more flexible that army used to use." Chuck explained with a large smile, he took great pride in his work.

"Wait that was you?" Sarah's eyebrow rose in question. Chuck nodded. "We used that armor several months ago on a mission it was amazing. I can't believe you developed that." Sarah was growing even more impressed. "What else have you been working on?"

"Nothing really…" He shrugged and shuffled his feet slightly. "Ever since I got this thing in my head all I ever do is train on how to use it. I don't get time to do anything else." Sarah watched him closely. "Everyone thought my dad was born with the gift. You don't get born with it."

"I don't follow."

"It's passed down to the eldest son through a ritual. I still had another five to ten years before I was to receive it. My dad was supposed to train me you know help me through the transition." Chuck explained standing close to the beautiful blonde in front of him.

"But your father was poisoned how did he do the ritual before he died?" She questioned.

Chuck gave her a slight smirk. "My dad was no idiot. He was able to tweak the spell to the ritual; we performed it when I turned 18. The minute he died it transferred to me." He sighed softly. "They still don't know who killed my father." It bothered him that no one knew who did it; after tracking down the poison and every possible lead they hit a dead-end. It's was just a big unanswered mystery.

Sarah placed her hand gently on his shoulder. "I met him twice." She smiled at him. "He helped my old partner and I out once. He was nice man; you two are very similar. I'm sure he'd be very proud of you." She told him genially.

Chuck flashed her one of his Bartowski grins. "Careful Sarah with all this fluffy stuff you might just turn into a real girl." She rolled her eyes at him with a smile and pushed his shoulder playfully. "Can't let my deadly assassin go all soft on me."

She gave him a mock glare desperately trying not to smile at him as she stared into his deep chocolate eyes. Their gaze locked, she finally noticed Chuck's lips close in on her own. Sarah's brain screamed for her to quickly pull back but her heart begged her to allow him to make contact. Chuck's eyes closed and Sarah smiled before leaning up slightly, giving him a quick peck on the corner of his lips; which pleased both her heart and brain. "Don't test me. Remember this assassin knows over 100 ways to kill you." She smirked and patted his chest before walking past him.

He beamed still feeling her lips on his. Maybe Ellie was right maybe Sarah did like him. "Wouldn't dream of it." Chuck slowly followed her out of the barn with a huge smile still plastered on his face.

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**A/N: Well there you go! I wanted to add a little more Charah or the beginnings of Charah at least. **

**Going to try and get the next chapter finished later this week and hopefully faster updates.**

**Reviews and/or thoughts are most welcome!**


	10. Chuck vs the Other Chuck

**A/N: Hey gang Happy Halloween! Sorry for the lack of update in the past 2 weeks or so I had a little bit of writers block and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to put into this chapter.**

**So without further wait! Here is Chapter 9! No Beta so any mistakes are my own. Enjoy :D**

**Oh ya… I don't own Chuck. Wish I did though, 'cause it wouldn't be ending… **

**Chapter 9: Chuck versus the Other Chuck **

*Nendir's Castle*

Nendir stood looking out one of the large window in his war room. His hands linked behind his back as the three other men huddled around the table watching their leader in utter silence. The sudden tapping of Nendir's foot broke the awkward silence. "I hope you all have good news for me."

The three men briefly looked at each other wondering which one dared to speak up first. One cleared his throat; "one of my men has reported in. Bartowski is headed to Truro for supplies before crossing the boarder."

The corner of Nendir's lip pulled up into a creepy smirk. "That's good." He slowly turned around and stalked back to the table. His gaze drifted towards one of the other men whose face was shrouded by the large black hood over his head. "It's time. Take him once he's across the border." With a sharp nod the man turned on his heels and walked out of the room without saying a single word.

"How are our other efforts?" Nendir continued.

"We're getting close." The last man finally spoke.

"How close?"

"We should break through the last of the defenses in the next day or two."

"It needs to be faster!" Nendir demanded.

The man hung his head slightly. "Sir if we move any faster we'll loose even more men then we already have."

"I don't care!" His fist pounded down onto table loudly. "I want that stone now!"

"Yes Sir. I'll put more men on it immediately."

With a wave of his hand Nendir dismissed both men before sitting down in his chair. He had waited for this moment for years and now everything was now falling into place. Soon Stephen Bartowski's son would be in his possession. And since he couldn't be the Seer himself he was perfectly content on controlling the person who currently possessed it.

With their goodbyes to Ellie and Devon and the new gear packed Chuck and gang began their journey out of town and towards the Southern border. Casey took point with Carina bringing up the rear and Sarah staying close to Chuck. Within a few hours they'd be crossing the border and into dangerous territory. Warlord's and scoundrels occupied most of the lands leaving the borderline heavily guarded by Alliance troops. Neither Chuck or Morgan were thrilled about crossing into that.

Sarah's gaze kept landing on Chuck as they walked down the road. His bright smile caused her to smile slightly; he definitely was different than any man she had ever met. Family and friends were everything to him and after spending time with Ellie Chuck's mood had brightened immensely.

"What?" His sudden voice broke her out her daze.

"Hmm?"

He smiled even more when she gave him a confused look. "What is it?"

"What is what?" Her eyebrow rose slightly.

Chuck smirked. "You were staring at me. Thought maybe I had some food on my face or something..." He wiped at his scruff just to make sure.

"Nope you're all good." She gave him a small smile.

Chuck narrowed his eyes slightly trying to keep a serious face. "I don't know I'm pretty sure you're lying to me."

Sarah's smile dropped suddenly; did he actually think she'd lie to him? Granted she was a trained assassin and lying was part of the game but this was Chuck. "It was a joke." Chuck quickly stated seeing the hurt look on Sarah's face. "You know ha ha." He gave her a bright smile seeing the corner of her mouth curl up slightly.

Turning his attention back to the road Chuck got a glimpse of the passing directional sign his eyes fell upon the small tree symbol in the lower corner.

**Apple**

**Long Rope Bridge**

**Large Waterfall**

**Silver Stone**

**Apple**

Chuck shook the flash off as he pulled Athena to a sudden stop. "What happened? Did you flash?" Sarah quickly asked.

He nodded. "Guys, I think I know where the stone is." The rest of the group had stopped along side him.

"What did you see?" Sarah moved up next to him more.

"Ahh… there was a long roped bridge. A large waterfall. And a silver stone." Chuck explained.

"Wait was it a really high bridge over rushing water?" Carina questioned.

"Ya… how'd you know?"

"I think I've been across the bridge and there is a large waterfall a couple of hours south of it." She looked at each one of her companions. "It's about a two day ride from the border."

"Let's move out then." Casey ordered turning Ares around trotting off.

Sarah smiled brightly at Chuck. "Good work Chuck." He gave her one of his special Bartowski's smiles that sent shivers down her spine and it wasn't a bad shiver. She cleared her throat looking away from that dashing smile of his before trotting off after Casey.

"Chuck." Casey nodded towards the neatly stacked wood in the center of their camp. They crossed the border into the Southern Territory just before dusk and rode until dark before deciding to make camp for the night.

Chuck narrowed his eyes slightly as he walked over. "So is this why you keep me around?" He made a small fireball in the palm of his hand before throwing it at the wood engulfing it in flames.

"Yup."

"Thought so." He huffed as Morgan slowly arrived next to him lugging several packs and bedrolls dropping them to the ground at their feet. "Brought your pack."

"Thanks buddy." Chuck reached down grabbing his bedroll and started unraveling it.

"I'll take first watch. Walker you'll take second and Carina last." The two women nodded as they started making up their small campsite.

Everyone settled down trying to get some much needed rest after their hard ride that afternoon. Chuck slept for a measly few hours; he was sore and his mind just raced. He wasn't even thinking of the mission for the most part it was a combination of his family, the mission, his ever growing ability, and Sarah. His thoughts always went back to Sarah.

With a huff Chuck slowly sat up and rubbed his face. He looked around, the fire was still dimly lite just enough heat to keep them from getting too cold but not large enough to be seen through the thick brush and trees. Chuck's eyes finally landed on the blonde beauty sitting on a log just on the outskirts of the camp. Slowly getting up he made his way quietly over to her.

"You know one of these days I'm going to have to show you why you shouldn't sneak up on an Assassin." Sarah said softly when she heard Chuck approaching up behind her.

"Sorry." He said meekly before sitting down next to her on the log.

She gave him a small smile. "You should be sleeping."

"Can't." Chuck sighed and looked over at her hands that twiddled a knife out of boredom. He glanced around the log briefly; "where's Thor?"

"I sent him out." She nodded towards the woods. "Make sure we didn't have any company watching us."

"Good idea."

"Well I am trained in the art of protection; it's part of my job description."

"And I personally thank you for that. I feel so much safer." She gave him a sweet smile it was a smile that Chuck swore she only gave to him.

There was a good silence between the two. It was comfortable.

Chuck finally spoke up softly. "So what can you tell me about Sarah Walker?"

Sarah stiffened at the question. "Chuck…"

"What? I can't know anything about you?"

She sighed slightly. "It's better if you didn't. Trust me."

"One question that's all I ask." Chuck just about pleaded he explained his whole situation to her and all he wanted was one simple question.

Sarah frowned and looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry Chuck. The less you know the better. For both of us."

Chuck just nodded slightly. "Apparently mysterious beauty is part of the job description as well."

She rolled her eyes with a smirk and nudged her shoulder against his. "Ha ha."

It wasn't meant to be a joke, she was a mysterious beauty but Chuck smiled anyways seeing her mood lighten. "I'm sorry if I was pushy…" He apologized softly. "I just wanted to know you a little better."

Sarah finally looked at him and got lost in his big chocolate eyes. She brought her hand up to his cheek and leaned in giving him a gentle kiss against his lips. Pulling back before Chuck had a chance to respond or she lost the will to actually pull away; she gave him a sweet smile. "Go get some sleep Chuck."

Chuck stared at her in mild shock and wide-eyed. Sarah Walker just kissed him. He Charles Bartowski. One of his Bartowski smiles quickly spread across his lips almost causing Sarah to lean in and capture it for herself once again. It took all of her strength to resist and lucky for her Chuck got to his feet. "Yes ma'am." She watched him walk back into camp and get into his bed.

Letting out a big sigh and rubbed her face. Chuck Bartowski. She couldn't let him bring down her emotional defenses; but it was so difficult with those big brown eyes and weak at the knees smile it was becoming the hardest thing in the world.

*Nendir's Castle*

The doors to the grand hall swung open loudly as Egan burst through interrupting Nendir's current entertainment. The women quickly scattered as he made his way quickly across the granite floor towards his master. He knelt quickly at once he arrived at his feet and held out the small wooden box he held in the palm of his hand.

Nendir quickly sat up seeing the wooden box. He reached out snatching it from Egan's palm. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes sir. Two hours ago a rider brought it directly here." Egan smiled.

Nendir continued to stare at the box. "I've waited so long for this day." He said softly before slowly flipping the lock on the box open and pushed the lid up with his thumb. The smooth polished silver stone sat neatly in its pillow bed. Delicately Nendir picked the palm sized stone up with his fingers before tossing the box aside.

He placed the stone in his hand and stared down at it. The silver color of the stone slowly began turning black the new color slowly seeping up from his hand until the entire stone. A sly smile spread across his lips before looking up at the man who still knelt in front of him.

"Bring me the staff." With a nod Egan got to his feet and left the room, within minutes he returned carrying the large black staff.

He quickly handed the staff over and watched as Nendir placed the black stone into the gold claw that sat on the top. The stone fit snuggly into its new home. "Egan. I think it's time to bring Charles Bartowski to me." Nendir smiled wickedly staring down at the stone on his staff. It was time.

Chuck's eyes shot open suddenly. A suddenly black film washed over his eyes before soaking into his body. He got to his feet pulling on his boots and vest before walking though the trees over to the horses that were tied away from their camp. It was like watching the world through a window, Chuck screamed inside his head to stop but his body continued. It was like it had a mind of its own, another voice… his own voice… telling him to leave by any means necessary.

"Chuckles what the hell are you doing?" Carina's soft voice questioned as she watched him tack up his horse. He looked at her slowly before continuing what he was doing. She stepped up closer to him. "Earth to Chuck it's not even dawn yet. Go back to sleep."

He didn't stop.

Carina let out a frustrated huff noticing Chuck wasn't listening to her. She was in no mood for this, reaching out she grabbed Chuck's wrist to stop him from putting on the bridle. "Stop."

His body tensed and his gaze turned towards the woman currently holding him. Carina eyes widened slightly seeing Chuck's former dreamy brown eyes a now cold steel grey color. "I think you should go back to bed… you don't look right." She let go of his wrist. The minute he was free he continued what he was doing, not saying a word to her.

"Bed now. Don't make me say it again." Carina almost growled and reached for his wrist again.

The minute her hand landed Chuck whirled around the flash happened so fast inner Chuck didn't even realize it soon enough to even try to stop it. The heel of his palm smashed up into Carina's nose breaking it. She stumbled back as Chuck attacked. With a quick roundhouse to her face he sent Carina to the ground.

She slowly pushed herself up on all fours as her head rang from Chuck's surprising kick. Chuck pounced. Grabbing her around the neck with his arm he flipped her back onto him landing hard on the ground. His free hand quickly covered her mouth to keep her quiet and his legs wrapped her up as she struggled to break free from his strong grappling hold. Chuck's body was on auto pilot no matter how hard he struggled to let her go nothing was happening. His arm tightened around her neck even more until Carina's body stopped struggling passing out from the lack of oxygen.

Chuck pushed her off of him and got to his feet he glanced towards the camp through the trees. No one seemed to wake during the brief scuffle which relieved inner Chuck, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt anyone else. He just hoped Carina was ok and would forgive him. Chuck finished putting Athena's bridle and walked her carefully away from camp before swinging on and taking off into the darkness. Inner Chuck continued to scream and will him self to turn around. But it was too late Chuck disappeared.

**A/N: There you go! Hope you liked it. A tiny bit of action there. Next chapter lots of action and one angry/pissed off Sarah! Hopefully it won't take me as long to update. **

**Thank you all who have been so patient and trying this story out. I know it's different with the whole Fantasy element, but I really appreciate you taking the time to read, review, and favorite :D**


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